Blood Pulse
by Drakke26
Summary: The struggle of a Deino against fate. Blood will be shed.
1. Chapter 1

Normally every chapter will pretty much directly start, the first few have small disclaimer and if I change the point of view I will also note that at the very beginning of the chapter.  
>Main reason I put this here is because I changed the first two chapters and to be honest, the new first one, or prologue as you could say, turned out a bit... darker than I expected it too.<br>So... if you're more into a slower, steadier start I would suggest you just skip to the next chapter, you won't really miss anything important. (If the chapter is a prologue this is a prologue to a prologue, right? Weird)  
>Anyway, this was my first story, and most likely will remain my main story for a while, so I hope you will enjoy it, no matter if you skip ahead or not.<p>

POV Selene (A Hydreigon)

"Zekrom, fill our hearts with hope, so we can always go on."  
>I chant the last phrase with my fellow clan members, enjoying our daily morning rite. I wouldn't exactly call myself a real believer, but the feeling of community is always overwhelming and I wouldn't want to miss it.<br>"Hunters and huntresses to me, everyone else knows what to do."  
>I make my way to the clan elder, eagerly awaiting his commands.<br>"You all know we have to move on so, give our prey time to recover a bit. I don't have to mention how important it is to refill our rations before we do so. Obsidian's group will hunt in the north, Saphire's west and Emerald's east. Topa's south, but be careful, we don't know if the human is still in the area."  
>We nod and my group flies off with the others, leaving me alone with the older Hydreigon. I nervously cough. "I apologize, elder, but you still haven't told me whose mate I should be the coming season."<br>The dark dragon sniffs and chuckles while I deeply blush. "Don't you enjoy the hunt anymore, Selene?"  
>I quickly shake my head. "I love the hunt, the thrill it brings and the scent of blood, but it does not seem appropriate to leave all the less pleasant work to others." 'And Topa said it feels so much better to feed your own whelp than the one of someone else. The right mate should make reproduction itself also nice, right?'<br>The elder slowly nods. "Obsidian has also asked for a short, break, I will arrange you two if it doesn't bother you?"  
>A wide smile appears on my face. 'A hunting leader and father of several strong whelps? The problem might only be if he doesn't accept a first breeder.' "I would be honored, elder."<br>The Hydreigon nods. "Than it is set, he asked for someone strong, a fitting description for you, right? Now, how about you hunt us something nice to celebrate?"  
>I quickly fly off, I have to find something extremely good to prove myself worthy.<p>

My group has already split up, it should be best if I move further south or I might disturb the hunt of someone else. A Bouffalant! Not really flavorful, but enough mass to make up for that. Especially if I can spice it up with a few berries.  
>I dash toward it from behind and bite into its neck while my two numbskulls shred open its side. My prey freezes in fear and I easily snap its neck and cough. 'So, how to transport it back now?'<br>"Gracious! Bravo! Such fierce, you will be a splendid addition to my team."  
>I growl at the human who steps out of the shadow of a tree. "I would rather die than obey a pathetic human."<br>The man smirks and grabs a weird sphere. 'Is that a Pokeball?' "Most persons change their mind when death approaches. Even a stupid animal will eventually."  
>He tips on the object and it somehow releases a Braviary. I dash forward and ram the right idiot into its stomach before I bite its beak.<br>The flying type isn't as strong as expected as it only throws me a few feet back flapping wildly with its wings. I grasp at my core and slowly extract some ice energy to cover my fangs, I despise the cold, but this attack has been passed down for generations and I always feel like I honor my clan using it.  
>The Braviary dives at me recklessly, but I barely manage to dodge left and rip open its throat as my opponent faces toward me again.<br>I snarl while the bird groans in pain, shards of ice in its wound glittering in the sun. Suddenly the flying type vanishes as a red beam makes contact with it, denying me the chance to finish it off. My growl is saturated with frustration. "Why do you steal my price?"  
>The human laughs and pulls out a second capsule. "Passed the first test. You won't be able to keep that up for long."<br>I'm more than a bit startled as a small pink pile of goo appears in front of me, quickly copying my appearance. The shape-shifting thing grins happily. "Finally a chance to prove myself as a fighter again after that long vacation in the pension. I'm looking good like this, huh?"  
>I mindlessly nod while he, it changes a few minor details of its appearance.<br>After a moment I realize what I'm doing and growl at the Hydreigon-replica , really good looking on though. "Stop it!"  
>The Ditto snickers. "I'm sorry, it's my greatest wish to please the senses of my opponent. And you're such a wonderful model. Guess I will have to do the final adjustments while you're unconscious."<br>He, it dashes forward, seems like it is already somewhat familiar with a shape like that, and tries to bite me. I fly to my left, but the fake dragon suddenly spins and hits me with its glowing tail.  
>The Ditto is somehow faster than I thought possible and closes the distance between us in the blink of an eye, quickly using dragon tail a second time. I raise my arms in defense, the numbskull's well being isn't that important right now. 'How does he, it know how to use the shape so well?'<br>The previously pink goo's follow up catches me a bit off guard as it redirects the tail swing up after colliding with my arms and throws my head up.  
>Suddenly I feel something wet touch my... protective scale and furiously push the weird, fake dragon away who swiftly pulls his tongue back in. "Why would you do that?!"<br>The Hydreigon-replica smiles. "I aim to please you could say."  
>A veil of rage dyes my vision red as I rush forward. 'No new moves.'<br>My left moron blocks and grabs the tail of the Ditto. I swiftly bite into its neck and try to rip its head off, but my opponent returns to its gooey-shape after I hear a sharp crack and simply flows out of my grasp. I cough and take several deep breaths. 'Should I drink it? It was kinda powerful, but that seems gross.'  
>The man retreats my opponent before I come to a decision. "So, still prefer death over belonging to me?."<br>I growl. "Correct." 'He can't carry any more capsules, right? He seems pretty weak and they have to be heavy. Zekrom help me, that goo took too much out of me.'  
>I flinch as the man pulls out a new capsule and an Arbok appears. 'I have to flee. No, I can't dishonor my clan by being a coward.'<br>I grit my teeth while the poison type licks some liquid off the ground. 'Did the Ditto not fully fit into the ball?'  
>Too fast. The snake suddenly wraps around me and I drop to the floor, unable to keep his weight in the air. 'Are they always so heavy and long?'<br>The Arbok reduces the wraps around my torso and instead slightly choking me as he winds around my neck. I can't stop myself from closing my eyes as I wait for him to pierce his poison fangs in my head, but he seems to have slowed down.  
>Suddenly I feel his tongue on my cheek and shudder. "A strong female, completely bound and helpless... don't you think this is so wonderful... romantic?"<br>I open my eyes as he leans against my cheek and pulls the wraps around my throat tighter. "Don't talk, enjoy our brief union."  
>Some sort of aura extends from his body and fear assaults my mind. I struggle to get him off me as the bounds around my torso loosen for a moment, but my lack of oxygen slows me down and he quickly tightens them again.<br>Something rubs against my protective scale and fear overwhelms me for a moment. 'Who are these weird slaves?'  
>The snake moans into my ear. "I wish you could enjoy this as much as I do, but I fear that is not the case. But it truly is wonderful if you can enjoy your tasks."<br>A pointy object pokes at my entrance and I desperately try to keep it shut out while the poison type continues to moan and rub against my cheek. Some unfamiliar bitterness rises in me, I don't know if the Arbok plant it or if it was there all the time. 'And today started off so perfect...'  
>The aura around the snake has vanished and he seems lost in his attempt to, to... open me. I have to concentrate as he still remains wrapped tightly around my throat, I can't fall unconscious now. 'There has to be a way to escape, anything would be better than belonging to a human like that...'<br>My thoughts stop and panic as somehow the tip of his tail made it past scale and I feel he won't give up until a lot more has stained my cavern. 'For a dream to come true you sometimes have to bring sacrifices... My only dream is to escape this nightmare.. But is there really only one way... ?'  
>I try to brace myself and give up, allowing the human's pet to push in. Fast. Deep. I hardly can suppress the feeling of despair that slowly seeps into my mind, unable to blend out how the Arbok hisses in delight while he seems to take some sick pleasure out of pumping his tail in and out.<br>It gets worse as he removes his tail and I moan. "More..." 'Why would I want that?! Why would I want anything of him inside? This is wrong!'  
>Something else than his tail moves in and I despise myself for moaning again. "Deeper..." 'I did not want to enjoy it... But he is strong and fast, so it would be no totally shame to take some pleasure out of it... right?' I slowly nod while the poison type moves deeper and faster. 'I'm free? When did he do that?'<br>I still stay on the ground, unable to push the Arbok away, and pant. 'Just a very brief moment to see how it could have ended...'  
>The pleasure seems to reach its peak and I can't suppress the instinct to constrict around him while I moan I bliss.<br>The foggy, pleasant feeling suddenly disappears as some liquid fills me and I shudder in disgust. I shake the limp snake off and quickly fly away, trying to leave the weakness and shame behind.  
>I head further south. 'I can't return to my clan like this.. so.. dirty.'<p>

Even after finding a lake and carefully trying to wash everything off and out I still feel stained. Nausea overcomes me and I feel miserable after emptying my stomach. 'Too late. Now I have to bear it. I'm sick and the only option I have is to lay the egg...'  
>I shudder and shake my head. 'After that I should just smash it and return to my clan... Maybe they will accept my sincere apologies.'<br>I slowly get up and glance to my stomach. 'But it grow up to be a strong fighter.. I can't deny my first born at least a chance, right?'  
>The nausea returns and I struggle to stand up again after the last bits of sour liquid drip out of my mouth. 'I should really carefully think this through, I won't be able to turn back the choice I made.' A small smile appears on my lips. 'At least I know where to lay the egg, mother told me after all. And it's not the breeding season yet, so I should be able to lay and hatch it before the others come there.'<br>I shake my head. 'It will be a winter-born. Perfect, it's said to be bad luck for a dragon to hatch in the winter, empty's influence is too strong in that time. But we don't really have a choice on that one I guess. And after it hatched I will train it to grow strong, or it will die trying to honor our clan.'  
>Some sort of clarity fills my mind and I quickly nod before it leaves me again. 'It's set, I won't let one mistake destroy my future.'<br>My stomach rumbles and I fly off, first of all I need some food to regain my strength.

End of chapter 1. So... how was it? I warned everyone this might be pretty dark, I won't take any responsibility for psychological damage I caused by this or any following chapter. Should I put this somewhere higher, so everyone can see it? Nah, it's somewhere on the first page, like in any good contract.  
>Anyway, glad you made it here. Like I said, wrote, I put this in months after the original first chapter, so the skillfulness might decrease a bit for the next few chapters, not too sure if and how strong though.<p>

And as anyone who read the description might have figured out by now, the rest of the story will pretty much center around the soon-to-be-hatched Deino and his way. The next chapter will be the two original first chapters, and you might say it will be a bit tamer for the next dozen chapter, so... if you're looking for... how to call it... hotter(?) stuff you might want to change to some other story now.  
>Hope you enjoyed it so far.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

POV Drakke

'It's dark, small, crushing, ... .I have to do something!'  
>I'm pushing, biting and trying anything I can to break out of wherever I am right now.<p>

POV Selene

I've been watching the damned egg for hours. I have little time left to decide.  
>Should I crush it, spill the blood of my own child to vanquish everything that is left of my unpleasant experience and shame?<br>Or watch it hatch, care for it and maybe remember my torture every time I look at it?  
>Because of this unholy, two-legged "humans" and their greed for power they hunted down and caught so many of us, we are shortly before extinction.<br>It's ripping me apart. In times like this I miss my "sister", my second sentient head as a Zweilous.  
>My evolution left me alone with two stupid bird-brained idiots who are only thinking about fighting and eating.<p>

It's starting to rain and I can see my mirror image, staring back out of a steadily increasing puddle.  
>I might be alone with this thought, but I think I'm the most beautiful Hydreigon around. Not many others to compare to though.<br>Lucky I'm in my cave and can just watch the rain fall outside. So my only problem stays this little, shaking egg.  
>SHAKING? It's hatching! I wasted my time thinking and now my options are reduced to watching it hatch or running away.<p>

POV Drakke

After what felt like hours my prison seems to give in. The thought of freedom leads me to high spirit again and with everything I got I hammer my head against this strange material. I roll out of my "cell", everything still seems black and hidden. Frustrated I shake my head.  
>Suddenly a dim light shines into my eyes. After adjusting to it my other senses seem to awaken.<br>I smell the rain outside of the ,I glance around, cave, hear it's splattering on the wet ground and feel my dry nest under my feet. Exhausted by all these new impressions and the work to get out of my imprisonment I lie down, fighting to stay awake and inspect my new surroundings.  
>I fail and slowly drift into a peaceful sleep.<p>

POV Selene

I was standing still, making no move while the little dragon hatched, looked around and finally started his recovering slumber.  
>He, I somehow could feel he was male, was cute, I have to admit that.<br>Unsure what to do I slowly hovered next to him and lie down.  
>While listening to his breathing I could feel the fatigue of staying awake three days in a row, in an inner fight about what to do, taking it's toll on me and I nod off into a light slumber.<p>

POV Drakke

I'm waking up and instantly feel something has changed. As I doze off everything was dim, damp and slightly cold.  
>Now I sense a heat next to me, and as I sniff, a familiar scent fills my nose. I try to get up, but a weight on my back pushes me back down. I struggle to break free, but my actions seem to be in vain. I feel a mix of anger and fear filling me, increasing my strength and will to survive whatever is trying to squash me.<br>A dark aura leaves my body and the pressure on my back is decreasing as I hear a muttering in my back.  
>"Please, no, leave me alone, I don't want to ..."<br>As soon as I got enough space I turn around to see a three-headed thing in front of me, one of it's head looks like it has lain on top of me, as it returns to the body out of my direction.  
>The creature did not look happy as it twitches on the ground, shaking and murmuring, but I am too far away to make out any more words.<p>

POV Selene

I'm shaking in my sleep, remembering the unpleasant process that lead to the birth of a specific Deino I am sure I would see peacefully dreaming in front of me as soon as I wake up. The memory of him smooths my mind and I can't resist to smile as I imagine the anger of the trainer of Arbok as he was finished with me and I managed to escape just in time to avoid getting caught and laying an egg for him.  
>Suddenly I feel the gaze of someone on me, staring , but not doing anything.<p>

POV Drakke

The creature slowly opens its eyes. I have calmed down a bit after the shaking stopped, but the thought of a new, maybe aggressive and stronger person let me stumble back until my back hit a wall.  
>I keep watching while doing so and almost slipped as the red gaze meets mine.<br>The biggest head yawns, showing me all it's fangs and my slightly shivering increases to an almost paralyzing degree. After looking around it finds me and moves closer to me, the two smaller heads snapping at me.  
>I try to move back further, digging into the wall if possible but it is solid, rock-solid to be more precisely.<br>Half-way the middle-head looks like it notices my fear and first glances to the cave entrance and after it notices there was nothing there, a quick gaze brought it's attention to the two snapping heads.  
>I heard a female voice saying something that sounded like "Are you two now totally daft? I told you not to scare him until I at least got a first impression of him. Now I can be happy if I understand every second word of terrified stuttering. Idiots!" after which she, the voice sounded female so I think it's a she, turns to me.<br>She seems to scan my entire body and after a first shock I got enough confidence to ask her:"Who are you?"  
>She looks shocked then answers:"Sorry it was rude not to introduce myself first. I'm your mother and a Hydreigon. If you ask yourself what you are, you're a Deino. We are both dragons."<br>I'm puzzled and as she continues I think I look that way, too. "As we are already in the introduction I would like to tell you a few things you should know if you want to survive." I nod, happy the riddle of what to do, who I am and ,as my stomach lets me know most important, what to eat almost solved as it seems.  
>"First things first where are on a small island not far from a country the human call 'Unova'.<br>This island is only for our species if we want to lay eggs. It's too far out for other Pokemon to reach it and too small for the humans to occupy it. But sadly most of the animals here are either poisonous or too small to sate our hunger or even both. Because of that we have to get going as soon as I'm finished with my little introduction.  
>Second important thing to know is you should not underestimate the humans. They have only two legs, an average human is too weak to even give you a scratch, exhausts faster then you do and has no scales to protect them from anything hazardous. But they invented many things to move faster and easier, mostly don't give up too fast and have small capsules to catch us and let us fight against each other."<br>"Why would they want to let us fight against each other and not just fight themselves? Can we not just tell them to leave us alone? Maybe they understand and we can try to live in peace."I ask, I could not believe any creature would do such horrible things and mother tells me a whole species does it?"Is there no reason for the pain they bring to us?"  
>Mother smiled, showing all her teethes and I started to shiver a bit again."I tried to talk to them and their slaves, but the human seem to be not able to understand a thing I say and their slaves are just deaf to our begging."<br>That left me speechless so I just nod, trying to believe anyone could bring me harm without a reason to do it. My midsection gave out a loud growl.  
>"As I hear you are hungry right now?"Again I nod, but this time blushing and embarrassed about my loud stomach.<br>"Then I think we should get going. You're light enough for me to carry you over the ocean, but after we arrive if you see something you think is edible don't bite into it right away, if I'm around always ask me."  
>I jump onto my feet, happy we finally get going, happy my first food starts to get closer and happy the long introduction was over.<br>I'm not sure if I remember every detail, but all in all I think I got it.

End of chapter 2. So... as some might have noticed I just clashed together my original first two chapters here, primarily to get some space for the new prologue, but it's also a nice way to get two, in my opinion too small, chapters into one larger one. If you're curious, the original first chapter ends after Selene fall asleep and the second one, logically, starts when Drakke wakes up.  
>Besides that I did not change too much, a few lines that did not perfectly fit to the prologue, but nothing even worth mentioning. It's a bit difficult to change something here without breaking canon, I guess, I won't even dare to try. Hope you enjoyed the chapter(s).<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: *clears throat* I do not own Pokémon or any other franchise, at last not while writing this. Because of that I hereby distance myself from the thought of earning money by posting this. Hope that's enough for you lawyer out there.

Chapter 3

If I don't mention it it's always Drakkes POV  
>We arrived at the continent a week ago and my mother lets me train every free minute.<br>First it was fun meeting new creatures, but it always ends with me having to tackle them, bite them and kill them.  
>I don't like all that contact, it is unpleasant even though I am not sure why.<br>If mother hunts something down she always rushes in her two "bird-brained"-heads as she likes to call them bite and crunch on the animal while she holds it close and rips off parts of it's skin until it is exhausted and dies.  
>"It's normal for a dragon to get personal to it's prey. Sometimes I wonder where these trait of yours comes from. I see you don't like it, but why?"<br>I shudder. I was so deep in thought I did not hear her coming so I got pretty scared. "I wish I could tell you. It's hard enough to speak to anyone and I can't get rid of the feeling half of the guys I meet end as meat in my mouth."  
>"It's only natural to eat meat. Remember the one time you tried vegetables? You were holding onto yourself not to loose it in your nest that night."<br>"But, but,..."I really want to make clear why I did not like contact, but I'm not even sure myself."I like the meat. I like the fresh flesh, but can we not kill them for a distance? I think I start to get nightmares from all the horror I see in the eyes of my breakfast."  
>I'm close to my breaking point, but I'm aware I won't be able to live if I stop eating.<br>"Kill them from a distance? Like a filthy Trubbish throwing mud? The way of our ancestors was to beat our enemies until they stopped breathing and we will do it that way for as long as we live."  
>Just as I was about to ask her why I have seen pictures of dragon breathing fire and looking like the demise of every living creature if we only bite and beat things my nose tickled.<br>' What's this strange smell?' is my last thought before I stagger and drop onto my belly.  
>I'm able to fight off fainting, but getting up again feels impossible. Because of that I can only watch as a group of Trubbish and Garbodor appear and surround my mother.<br>"What do they want from us, mother?" I ask, curious as nothing until now was stupid enough to attack a powerful being like my mother.  
>Soon I got my answer as a group of two-legged creatures, "humans" as mother called them, step onto the clearing, focusing only the Hydreigon.<br>"You think this dragon will be worth a few dollar if we catch and sell it?"I heard one of them speaking.  
>"Just kill it. The scales are worth a fortune and a living one isn't worth the trouble catching it."<br>My eyes went wide hearing something like that. Not only did they think we were animals, something you could harvest and kill to make some quick money, they also look like they don't know we are aware of everything they talk about!  
>I try to move again. An useless attempt as the stench of the Trubbish and Garbodor has not faded yet, my lack of food spared me to barf my last meal. Still I don't think I will be able to eat anything for a while now.<br>This inability to move could be called lucky or not as it leads to the humans not noticing me, but it also leaves me with no choice but to watch in horror as the poisonous things start using gunk shot and sludge bomb against what I have left as family, my father was a topic mother likes to skip, ignore or scream about if I ask about it.  
>I'm sure one, two maybe even three Garbodor would be no problem for my mother, but five of them and ten Trubbish leave her little to no chance of victory as I witness right now.<br>She is able to fight off the smell and enrages, ripping two Trubbish apart leaving nothing more then garbage, but her actions seem to be in vain.  
>I stopp counting after what felt like the fifty hit she took. Slowly the tides of the, I think I have to call it a battle even if it feels more like a massacre to me, are turning, leaving four Garbodor and five Trubbish standing while my mother breaks down, exhausted and still filled with anger as I can sense by her growling.<br>I almost forgot the humans, but after her breakdown they slowly walk over, kick her, mumble something like"I hope she is out cold. If she kills more of our pokemon the price to make up and stock up our teams would be tremendous." and finally one of them picks a red and white capsule from his belt and stretches his arm.  
>A red beam extends from the round object and a Bisharp appears, looking at the human.<br>"You know what to do. Slash it apart and don't damage the scales or you food gets reduced to a minimum, got me?" The newcomer just nods and starts his work.  
>The reduced amount of stench in the air enables me to move a little bit, but again I'm stunned by the image of my mother getting cut of her scales and slowly dripping blood to the ground at an increasing rate as more and more of her skin gets torn off.<br>The sound of her groaning and the metallic blades against flesh are going to follow me, anything else would be a surprise for me at this point and rate.  
>After the last slash is done the human points the ball at the Bisharp again, it looks like it returns in there somehow. I hope nobody blames me for not caring at that matter now, with my dead mother in front of my eyes and the sound of a argument, something about the price and how to transport the scale, whatever.<br>I keep lying on the ground for some time, shaking and trying to keep my sanity. After what felt like hours I slowly turned around and started running, away from the corpse, away from wherever the human have gone to, just away from this scenery.  
>After running for an hour I collapsed, whining and thinking about what to do next.<br>I don't know how long I laid there, but after a while I pulled myself together enough to think about my next steps.  
>First I have to find out where I am, second I have to get myself something to eat, third would be to find a source of water, maybe I can combine that with my second step, and forth I have to find some place to sleep.<br>A quick glance into the sky and I'm sure I have a third of the day left, more likely less.  
>' So, where did I go?'I questioned myself. I accidental bang my head against a white, metallic, flat thing. There were also black one the white, but I have no idea what to do with it so I bypass the object.<br>Looking forth I see the caves of the human, mother called them houses. A lot of them to be more precisely.  
>I think I remember something ... ah right. "Never get too bigger cities it's the more likely you will meet someone who will either want to eat or catch you."<br>I take a step backwards and try to decide what to do. One the one hand if I go closer the chances of something bad happening are pretty high, on the other hand I do smell food in there and my stomach remembers me of me missed meals and the likelihood of finding something out here with none to guide me.  
>While I'm thinking about the positive and negative outcomes if I follow my nose I hear someone whistle and getting closer.<br>I hide myself in close-by high grass and look to see who or what is coming my way.  
>A single human, I think he is double my high and three times my weight, coming my way. As I carefully move closer to the way I sniff into his direction. No stench, so the chance of him having any nasty Trubbish or something like that. But I smell food, it does not smell like fresh meat, but from this point forth I'm willing to try anything that leaves me sated and not barfing in the next hour.<br>With this thought on my mind I quickly dashed out and tackled him, or her I was not really sure, taking him down I stand on his chest and snarl at him.  
>He seems to have fallen on wherever he keeps his food as the scent reduces, so I slowly circle around him, hopefully moving closer to the source of the delicious scent, I'm pretty hungry so I think almost anything would have smelled that way in my mind.<br>He tries to get up, but as soon as he is on his feet I bite into his heel, forcing him to sit down again. I don't like the taste of human flesh, but if all this contact and awkward taste brings me closer to a dinner I accept it.  
>As he sits back down I sniff all over him to find the food.' It has to be here somewhere!'<br>I think he got an idea what I wanted from him as he slowly reached into a bag he was carrying on his back. Under his breath he muttered something like "If all it takes to get my out of here is my sandwich with ham, I think I get out lucky."  
>Suddenly he has the source of the smell in his hand. It does not look to promising, but the scent tells me it should be edible, maybe even tasty.<br>I snap it out of his hand leaving him with a little bleeding as he did not pull back his hand in time.  
>While I'm happily munching my meal he takes out some strange device. A strange voice tells him my species and so forth. Some of the stuff I heard almost made me laugh as it was not even close to my habit, but I had my lunch and ready myself to get going.<br>The stupid human picks this moment to try to touch me. After a initial shock I turn around and try to bite off his hand. I don't like the taste, but my hatred for pressure on my back prevails and so I it a shot.  
>That leads to me thinking he is stupid, but not totally dump as he draws back his hand out of my reach and struggles to get some distance between us.<br>Happy he got my point I turn around again and walk off.  
>I think now I know where I am, or at least enough to plan my next steps, and even better I found myself a good meal.<br>Thinking back I have to notice not all humans seem to be that bad. He could have tried to poison me or grab a slave of his to defeat me, I did see the capsules on his belt. For now I think I will keep cautious to these humans, but steeling a bite of food or two from lone wanderer should be kept in mind if I ever find myself starving again.  
>Next on my mental list is to find some water and a nice cave or something else I can safely take a nap in.<br>I started off in the opposite direction of the city and soon went into a forest. The sound of water led me to a river and I jump right into it happy my search goes on this easily.  
>After drinking until I almost feel like a water-type based on all the water inside of me I get ready to tackle my last "task" for today, finding a nice place to stay at night.<br>I think I will continue the way that lead me here, meaning I will continue to wander around until luck or Arceus or both lend me a hand and guide me to some nice spot.  
>A few minutes later I'm confronted with a angry, red ape, a Pansear if my instincts tell me the truth.<br>"Ehm... hi. You look angry. Why?"I ask innocently, I have enough fighting and running for today and hope I just find a nest before the sun vanishes, leaving me stumbling in the darkness.  
>"Remember the tree you stumbled against? It fell onto my nest and squashed my food rations for the next week."<br>"I-I'm sure we can find a solution for your problem. We don't have to fight!"  
>"And the next time I turn around you run off and leave my alone undoing your damage? No way, I will knock you out and trade you in for some new seeds."<br>"T-trade me in? Where and with whom? Who would trade lives against seeds?"  
>"Human do. Some of them have some sort of translator. I don't care how they get them, but some of them are more then happy to trade." While telling me that he slowly got closer and by the end of his sentence he was close enough to start an attack of fury swipes.<br>I backed off trying to think of a easy way out.'Maybe if I push him into water he will cool down' With a plan starting to form I ran back to the river always cautious not to get hit.  
>As we got there I looked over my shoulder to see him still following me. As I saw him tripping a bit over a vein I had noticed before I step out of the way while feeling power rushing though my throat into my mouth. Soon I was no longer able to keep my mouth shut a beam left my mouth I quickly tried to aim at the ape.<br>I quickly got a hang on my new power and the monkey did not seem too happy about it. My first released beam missed him, but the second one hit him onto his chest throwing him down into the river. After a few seconds of struggling he stopped and I walk up close to see if he was still alive.  
>He did not react to anything so I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the water.'Dinner is ready' I thought to myself as I took the first bite. Nothing I would like to eat every day, but it was there and fresh so I dig into his flesh and enjoy my meal.<br>After finishing it I walked back to where I met the fire-type to find a for my needs suitable hole.  
>Lying down I remember everything that happen today and have to fight back tears at the memory of my mothers passing. But except of that the day was not too bad.<br>Eager to see what my next day will bring upon me I drift off into a deep sleep.

End of chapter 3. Wow, longest chapter for now.I know the fight could have been better, but I still try things out. I'm still looking for a betareader and if I find one I maybe redo the first few chapters. Like always I hope you enjoyed it and reviews are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer:Does really every chap has to have disclaimer? Anyway I do not own Pokemon and distance myself from gaining any profit with this.

Chapter 4

Waking up by the twittering of a bunch of Pidove sounds enjoyable.  
>It's not, at least not if you understand the senseless chatter they make.<br>I shake my head and slowly get onto my feet, which results in banging my head against the ceiling. I did forget I have slept in a small cave.  
>Great start for a day, right? Slowly the memories of yesterday come back. A cry builds up in my throat, but I swallow it down. No time to sink in self-pity, I did not run, fight and work that much the last week to give up now.<br>To distract myself I think about what to do next. I could stay in this forest and hide for all humans coming through, but I think I saw a creature while eating my dinner, so hunting would get a lot harder here.  
>A second option would be to stay next a street and rob food of travelers. 'No, they would find me in no time and then I end like mother'<br>Before I get to enveloped in sorrow again I force myself to the next thought. Or I could continue to travel around train and get stronger, maybe strong enough to get my revenge. Sounds the best for me so I walk out of my cave.  
>While walking out I continue my recap of yesterday. I get to the point meeting and fighting the ape. I really wish I could have gotten a few more information out of him. This translator-thing some humans seem to carry around could give me the chance to talk some sense into them. But the stupid monkey did not mention how the translator looks like.<br>Next I thought about the strange power escaping my mouth while fighting him. If I'm able to reproduce the maneuver I will be able to fight off enemies at some distance. Mother said something about it not being the way of our ancestors, but that did not do her any good, right? Damn, change of subject or I go insane. I always come back thinking about her.  
>Focus on the technique. First I should try to find this energy again.<br>I concentrate and sink deeper into my body, just to collide with a tree. 'Ouch, no concentrating and walking for a while or I crack my head open one time.'  
>Because of the little incident I leave the path and sit down between grass, high enough to cover my head so nobody interrupts and hurts me. Where did I stop? Right, I slowly sink down again until I can feel the power. Forcing any other thoughts in the background I try to gather the energy and raise it to my mouth.<br>After what feels like hours, taking a look at the sun it has taken almost one hour, I was capable of creating a little beam by opening my mouth. I'm not able to walk while lifting the force, but if I take one step after another I think I will be able to use it soon.  
>Ending my training I feel a hunger I'm pretty sure I did not have in this intensity when I started it. 'So no playing around with the beam or I starve. Good to know.'<br>I start my search for a late breakfast, as the sun is already at it's peak, when I see a human coming my way. Swiftly I hide in high grass next to the street, getting ready to tackle him and rob his food. In the last moment I stop as I see a Deino following him. I'm pretty sure he is a Deino as he looks almost exactly like me, only the spots on his fur seem wrong to me. They are more purple then red which I thought would be the normal color as my own looks that way.  
>While I think about what to do next the other Deino lifts his head and starts sniffing. To late I realize he has caught my sent, but I still try to get away. The human does not look to athletic and the Deino is smaller then me so I hope to outrun both of them.<br>While I turn around the traitor jumps onto me and barks, trying to get the attention of the human.  
>I'm more or less flat on the ground, he is not as tall as me, but I realize he had to have gotten more and bigger meals than me as he is weighty and uses it to keep me down.<br>" Why do you do this?", I ask him, "Your not in a cell or something, do you not feel like running away?"  
>The question seems to hit him as he moves and looks at me curious. "Why should I run away? I get three meals a day and if I try hard enough my trainer even seems to understand me."<br>"Trainer? Is that his real name or the title you have to call your master?""He's not my master! Or at least not the kind of master you think he is. He is friendly towards me, feeds me and I don't have to fight if I don't want to."  
>Now it's my turn to look puzzled."There are humans out there who do not see us as a resource for scale or as a toy or as something to eat?" "Yeah. You did not know?"<br>I slowly shake my head. 'Again, a lot of information for me' "See, I'm sorry for what will follow next, but I need some time to think about all this."  
>He strains himself again. "What to you mean, you're sorry?" I take that moment to try my new move, focus and fire a middle sized beam which hits him dead on and catapults him into his "trainer" who had been getting close while we talked.<br>I think I overdid myself a bit as both seemed to be out cold with bruises, especially the Deino.  
>Thinking with my stomach again I walk over to them and search their bag for food. A can with a grinning Pikachu got my attention and I took it while leaving the scenery. I think they will wake up in one or two hours.<br>After a quick walk I sat the can down out of my mouth and started thinking how to get to the inner, I hope it is food. Pushing it makes it roll away. I do not dare to use more force and hit it with my dragon breath, as I think that will send it flying and ends with me nether seeing it again.  
>After some quick thinking I bite off the top of the can. It does contain food, tasty one as I have to add and I take my time to thank the two for lending it to me.<br>The sound of water leads me to a river again, so my most important needs seem to be sated for the moment.  
>Approaching the water, a Basculin jumps out of it and tries to bite me. A quick dodge and bite later I think my stomach feels like it is going to burst, but it's a nice change to being half-starved at other times.<br>' What to do next?' I can't believe I am not confronted with the problem of starving, dieing of thirst or running away from something that tries to kill me. As I am sprinkled by the Basculin already and next to a river a bath seems to be a good idea. The Basculin seem to be terrified after I took out one of the in one bite and the drift looks to weak to carry me away.  
>After a nice bath with a few snacks, not every single Basculin has learned it's lesson, but a few bites here and there made my stomach happy and got me some peace.<br>' Onto the next adventure!' I can't believe who would be stupid enough to even think something like that, but the thought crossed my mind and so I have something to laugh while looking for a place to sleep.  
>After almost getting stuck three times in some holes in the ground I decide to just lean against a tree for my sleep. I did not knock over any tree this time so I prepare for a nice long nap without the disturbance of some angry ape.<br>As someone who likes to sleep at night I can not tell you how long my sleep lasted, but I can tell you it feels like I need a few more hours.  
>While slowly waking up I feel some idiot shaking me, so I think anyone can understand my mood is not that great.<br>The idiot shaking me? An Audino, a short living one of it does not stop. I start snarling while getting up.  
>"Hey, I can really need some help. Mind if you land my a hand? Please!" I can already tell it won't be worth eating her, as she sounds sick and underweight.<br>While my mood continues to sink deeper and deeper I growl at her. "What is your problem? See, I really like my good and long sleeping in the night. So tell me one reason why I should help you instead of just ripping you apart and continue to sleep."  
>I think at that moment her survival instinct decides to kick in or her brain starts working again as she slowly draws back while mumbling to herself about why she was waking up the first and most scary looking guy she could find.<br>"I'm awake so start talking. I'm about to lose my patience." I think I should have been a bit more friendly as she now loses her last bit of courage and stutters something about being sorry and so forth.  
>I'm about to turn around and leave her to find a nice spot to sleep as she grabs my tail and pulls me back."Please, don't leave, I really need some help. My sisters is getting attacked by a Litwick."<br>"And why should I help you?" "You are a kind hearted guy, right? And if not we do have some food we are willing to share."  
>My interest gets back by hearing the word "food" so I slowly get closer to her while trying to free my tail."OK, OK. I will help you if I get something to eat for it and you never mention it to anyone." As soon as I'm finished freeing my tail and end my sentence she jumps up and down looking quite happy.<br>I'm embarrassed by that behavior so I headbutt her and tell her to lead me to my food, and her sister if that was what it takes to get something.  
>She sprints away, almost leaving me with trouble to keep up.<br>By the time we get to her sister the Litwick is laughing while watching the Audino running away from some will-o-wisp attacks.  
>I slow down and get his attention by talking to him. "Is this really necessary? Kill her, eat her or whatever, but is this running around needed? I get dizzy only by watching her and her stupid sister here had to wake me up in the middle of the night to stop you."<br>First he just throws me a glare, but after thinking about my words he changes to looking puzzled. "If you do not care for any of these two why did you even come with her."  
>"Food" My answer was short, but I did not feel like talking in the middle of the night.<br>"So if I get you an appropriate snack you might be willing to let me continue?"  
>"Maybe. Size and taste would not be unimportant." The Audino who woke me up looks shocked. "But you're a nice and friendly Pokemon and he is not so why do you talk and not just smash him?"<br>If she would not look that ill I would have bitten her for that, but so I just ignore her. "Thinking about it, I think I should start to trust more people, Litwick. I'm sure you have a good reason for doing this so just keep the two idiots quite and away from me and we have a deal."  
>I think none of them would have thought that answer could be even thinkable for me, don't ask me why, I do not see some heroic halo if I look at my mirror image,but it results in Litwick guiding his will-o-wisp to close to the second Audino lighting her up on fire while the one waking me up just collapses at the shock. A quick kick shows me her illness has taken its toll and she would not wake up again.<br>While I slowly walk away from the scenery the Litwick comes closer to me and follows me.  
>"What do you want? Don't even dare to ask if I get you a new toy after you broke the last one." With my problems dead or burning my mood got high enough to make a little joke.<br>"I like you. Not sure why, but I think I will keep you company for a while." "I hope you're not nocturnal? I need my sleep at the night" "No, tonight was a exception. The two Audino were just extremely getting on my nerves so I thought a little visit at night would help." "If you promise not to annoy me maybe we could get along just fine." He nods and I start looking for a place to sleep.  
>Soon I found a suitable tree to sleep against and nod off against it. 'Company could be useful later."<p>

End of chapter 4. Like always hope you enjoyed and reviews are welcome. Also have to say thanks for my first review by BoshiBasher555. Yeah, but a species with that haircut has to be somewhat funny, right?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and distance myself from earning any money through this.

Chapter 5 "Rise and shine! Get up."  
>I slowly open my eyes. I do not care who you are. Let me sleep or I get angry." "You don't remember last night? We did get along just fine."<br>Steadily my memories come back. Yeah, I told him he could travel along with me for a while, but I never told him to wake me up at sunrise.  
>"Shut up, Litwick. I need my sleep. If you want to continue your journey now, do it alone." That said I close my eyes and prepare to nod off. I should have thought before doing so,as the idiot uses my half-asleep-state to drip some hot wax on my head. It's a pity, but he vanishes before I get a chance for some payback.<br>I have to reconsider the idea of having a companion to travel with. They might be useful, but they seem to be more annoying than it is worth!  
>After a few more hours peaceful rest I get ready to continue my trip.<br>I walk a while until feeling the weather getting colder.  
>Entering the next forest I'm confronted with a little problem. A little, white-light blue, angry looking problem to be a little more exact. A raging Cubchoo to be totally precisely.<br>Don't ask me why I always get to meet guys with anger control problems, but I think I have a lucky hand if it comes to them.  
>"Hey, is there something I can help you with?" A icy enemy chasing my butt is something I would really like to avoid, so I try to be as friendly as possible after seeing him punching a hole into a frozen tree.<br>The little bear starts to smile which somehow makes me shiver. "Funny you ask. To tell you the truth, you seem to be exactly what I need."  
>"And that would be?" He is smaller than me, but because of his elemental advantage he has a good chance to smash me into the ground if he tries. At least if mother told me the truth. Aww not this again.<br>"I need the scale of a mighty dragon to get back into our village. It's part of some rite. I'm not that interested in it, but I'm sure if I rip off all your scales I have a fair chance to absolve the rite."  
>"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm pretty attached to these scales, literally. So it would be great if you choose another victim for the "ripping skin and scales off"-rite."<br>"But you are right in front of me. Just hold still and I promise I won't hurt you, at least not for long."  
>He is walking towards me while we talk and I realize the chance of me getting away without a fight are non-existent.<br>Because of that I jump forward, aiming at his throat to rip it open and finish him before the battle even has started. He rolls left while firing a white, shimmering beam at me. I drop onto my belly to avoid getting hit. The attack misses me and shatters the tree it made contact with. I get on my feet while he has to catch his breath.  
>Next he tries to punch me with a slightly unfriendly glowing paw. Hopping out of his way I focus and hit him dead on with my dragon breath. He seems to be dizzy for a moment before shaking it off and charging at me again.<br>' Damn, if he keeps that up I'm done' In the nick of time I step aside and bite into his left paw. Using his momentum I make a turn on my hind legs, swinging him into the next tree.  
>I hear a loud cracking and see the tree slowly collapsing. Backing off I watch the wood falling onto the bear.<br>To make sure he is out cold I grasp for my power to fill my mouth and ready a beam. Suddenly I feel my fangs releasing a strange heat. Letting my instincts drive me I bite the lumber and watch it catching fire.  
>' He won't escape that!' I put all my hope onto that thought as I get tired by all these fighting. And it still takes it toll for me to use my dragon breath.<br>I slowly see one claw rising out of the burning stack of wood. I shake my head.' How did he survive that? He should have melt or something like that by now.'  
>I slowly move closer and discover he is covered by blisters.' So I made some impact on him!' Reencouraged I jump forward and push him back into the fire. As a dragon I'm only slightly uncomfortable to get this close to a fire, but I think eating a cocked meal now or then is a great diversity from my ordinary meal.<br>I think he needs a few more minutes to be done so I wait my time. It's not a every day chance to get a cooked bear. So I try to be patient.  
>After I could not make out any movements anymore I step closer again and push the timber and ash away to get to the icy snack.<br>Taking my first bite he twitches, but I do not care at this point. His flesh seems even and I get a mix of extremely fresh, like in "almost still alive", and slowly cooked, his ice type seems to have protect him from the most evil burnings and scorching, meat.  
>The taste was really good, but I think I get back to hunting weaker prey as I don't want to get eaten and this fight almost ended with me being exactly that.<br>The idea to sate my thirst by eating some ice leaves my head as soon as I get a few bites into my mouth. It's too cold for my liking and seems to drain me off power in a blink.  
>Because of that matter I retreat back to look for a nice and hopefully slightly warm river.<br>My lucky strike in finding water did not end and so after half an hour of sniffing around I find a river to refresh and think about what to do next.  
>My hunger is sated for a while, the Cubchoo was a bit overweight, but I think he would have said that it were muscles. It's too soon to look for a place to sleep, got almost a third of the day left.<br>So the only thing left for me to do is train a bit. I'm a natural in using my dragon breath as I think I have mastered it in less then two days. My new fire fangs follow the same pattern as every other bite, so I do not have to train that, too.  
>This leaves me with trying to train my stamina, it is useless to overpower every enemy if I start coughing and collapse after a battle of a few minutes, or I train my agility, I was able to dodge every hit and beam the bear threw at me, but some were close calls.<br>After some thinking I decide to work on my stamina. Judging from the lessons of mother running around until I almost collapse would be most suitable as a training method. I take a deep breath, live goes on, do not drown in sorrow for someone you only knew for a week. Even if you are less then two weeks old. No sobbing.  
>I try to turn my head off while starting to run, I do not care for the direction, I only hope to leave behind the stupid memories.<br>Two hours later my head remembers its duty again and reminds me I should look for a nice little river to refresh before I start looking for a place to sleep. The sweat my little running around got me drenched into could attract other predators who think I am weakened and a nice snack.  
>My nose shows its usefulness as dowser as I only need a additional hour to find a lake. And I did find a few nice snack, namely a few Basculin stupid enough to attack me.<br>Looking into the sky again I see I got an hour, maybe less to find a sleeping place or I have to tumble in darkness again, hitting trees and cursing around, because of said trees.  
>The next forest is not too far away and lucky me I find a nice tree to sleep against. Hope there won't be any idiots waking me up tonight or I will think about a midnight snack.<p>

The next morning is more the way I like it then the one yesterday. No idiot screaming and shaking me to get up. No getting up in the middle of the night so I have to sleep until a fourth of the day is over. Just a nice and slowly waking up maybe two hours after sunrise.  
>I get onto my feet and walk to the next river. Starting the day slowly and with some fish.<br>After my breakfast I start my daily training, starting by running for a few hours. While walking I reach colder climate again and a clearance to see a Mienfoo and more important a can with a smiling Pikachu. 'Tasty food!'  
>"Hey!" I walk onto the clearing, focus on the can of tasty, human-made food.<br>"What do you want?" The fighting type slowly turns around, hands on the unopened can. I'm sure the interior will end in my mouth in a few minutes. "The can, so just hand it over and there won't be a reason to hurt you."  
>"You're nuts, right? You dare to threaten an enemy who has a clear advantage fighting your kind?" The female Mienfoo, yeah I might be a bit slow if it comes to identifying other species, but the voice is always a clear sign for me, has a mix of being puzzled and amused on her face.<br>"I did beat every opponent up until now into oblivion and you don't look that strong to me. So the only matter I care for right now is the question how did you get your paws onto the food?" "I did buy it. Stupid question." "Where? It's not like two-legged ones would understand you, leave alone trading things with us." "How long did you not enter a town? Most of the humans have translator to talk with us now."  
>I don't believe that. None human I met before did try to talk to me. And the other Deino said his master would almost understand him, so no translator either.<br>"You try to trick me! Get me to walk in some city to get killed, ripped of my scales and the rest of me ends as a snack for the traitor of us?" A little angry, or more like raging, I grasp for my inner power to roast her with my fire fangs. As you can already tell my mind turned off while speaking to the weasel. Now it turns back on to tell me how stupid it is to leap at a fighting pokemon who is already in its battle stance. The payback for doing something that stupid did follow up close, as she grabs my head and tail in a swift motion while avoiding my attack and throws me against the next tree. 'Ouch, somehow I think this is familiar.'  
>Getting back up I ready myself for my dragon breath, just to receive a fake out onto my throat and gag for a few seconds. I almost blackout, but snap back into reality with a slap. As you can see by now, not only my body has taken quite a beating, but also my ego drops onto the floor. I try to take a few steps back from the out of my point of view increasingly dangerous girl, but a jump kick against my left front leg leaves me doing an unwanted bow. I think I hear a crack in my leg, only thing I'm sure of right now is it did hurt like hell.<br>Using my lowered head she grasps my neck and pushes me onto the ground. I don't want to focus on my physical state, let's just say I can be happy if I get out alive from this point forth. The pressure on my neck increases and while slowly everything seems to fade away I find myself thinking what I could have done different. To avoid angering, speaking and fighting the creature standing on top of me is something I clearly have to mark with never do that again.  
>The bear was not my fault, he deserved what he human and his Deino where more like an accident, I should not have put that much force into the beam. No bad feelings for any fish I did eat. Lucky for me my flashback stops, no need to see my nightmare of a special Hydreigons death more often then necessary. Coming around I hear the wispers of what seems to be my demise. "He had no air left, how did he perform a dark pulse?"<br>She notices I'm awakening and grabs my tail. "You won't get away that easy. I'm curios at your airial perfomance, little dragon." "Can we not forget our little conflict? You did win. Can I go, please?" I try to sound as cute and seductive as possible.  
>"You don't want to play anymore? What a pity! You should have done some thinking before attacking me." That said she pulls me to the closest lake and starts spinning me around.<br>"You don't have to throw me into that frozen lake." "But I want to do it!"  
>I think it's the second time today I see myself withone foot in the grave. The collision with the ice takes my breath away and I slowly sink down. I have to mention I do some swimming if I get a chance, but never half dead with a broken leg. While almost watching my chances for survival drop I start to blackout again.<br>'I should try to see the bright side of this. I did not have to suffer, not extremly long at least. I did not lose any limps or scales. I won't leave behind a family who will grieve for me. Always look on the bright side of death.'  
>I lose my consciosness.<p>

End of chapter 5. First major fights! I hope I satisfied anyone who was thirsting for a more dramatic style of fighting. And like always hope you enjoyed and review if you feel like it.  
>Wait, one more thing. If you lurker out there want to get the next chapter this weekend I challenge you to review. 3 comments by people who are signed in or 5 anonymous ones.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and do not try to gain any profit from doing this. But I think I have some rights on my OCs, so if you want to use them ask first and we won't get any problems.

Chapter 6

My body feels numb. 'I'm dead, right?'  
>But slowly my chest seems to heat up. 'So I get cooked after all?'<br>I try to lift my eyelids and shake my head to see something. It seems to be in vain, I can barely keep awake. Soon I fall back into my slumber. Strange, I could swear I feel a nearby presence.  
>My second try to find out where I am is a bit more successful. I open my eyes and see I'm next to a fire. That explains the warmth.<br>' How did I get out of the lake? I should be dead by now. Not like I would mind to survive.' Trying to get up my left leg is not able to stand the weight. I collapse back down and feel my power leaving me again.  
>Third try to get up. "You should not push yourself that much. It slows down your healing process." So someone did save me. One riddle less to solve. Instead the questions why and who did it appear.<br>I'm able to lift my gaze. 'Wait, what? A human did save me?' I jump up and run away. At least that was my plan, but my body fails me again.  
>"Why would anyone help me? I won't be able to fight or carry anything for a while and everything else could be done to me while I'm dead." Yeah, I'm down in more than one way. To make things worse I can already tell hunting is out of my reach in this condition and vegetables are no option. So instead of a quick death the stupid man condemned me to a slow, painful one.<br>"You can't believe I just wanted to help? And the dive into the water to get you out wasn't pleasant."  
>"You idiot did get me into the position of getting eaten or starving!"<br>"You think I will leave you to die? Get you out of the lake to enable you to die a more painful death?"  
>Suddenly I realize he seems to understand me. And we have a great start as you can tell.<br>"Why do you know what I say? I got told human need some sort of translator to understand us."  
>He points at his ears. "And I have a pair of them."<br>"Where? I only see a standard human ear on each side of your head."  
>"You expected a pair of rings around my ears? Or a ball that hangs next to my ear and sums every time you say something?"<br>"To tell the truth, yeah, something easy to detect and tell it's function. Is the translator invisible or something like that?" He has to snicker a moment and instantly I think the joke is on me. Snarling I ask. "What's so funny?"  
>He stops and looks serious again. "Sorry, I like the image of an invisible summing translator, but it's nothing like that. I skip the complicated technical part and try to explain it as easy as possible."<br>"Because you think I'm stupid?"  
>"No, more like I did not understand a lot myself."<br>I snarl, I do that a lot lately. "You use something you do not know how to handle?"  
>"Wait!"He holds his hands up in a defensive manner, as if I could have hurt him in my current state."You could call it a passive device, but just let me start my explanation and you will see why."<br>"OK, but hurry up."  
>He takes in a deep breath. "How to start? As you can see the translator is not attached on the outside."<br>"Instead?"  
>"No interruptions please."He takes a few steps back while telling me this. "It's an implant. A little bit below my ear. It catches the vibrations and somehow translates them then vibrates itself which my ear reads as a translation of you talking."<br>"You're right. It sounds a lot more complicated. You every word I say?"  
>"It has a extremely small chance to malfunction. One out of a million or so."<br>I carefully get onto my legs, avoiding to put any pressure on the left one. "You still did not tell me why you saved me. Spare me the nice and friendly stuff. There has to be a different reason."  
>"How to put it in a way you won't attack me or run away? You know what a trainer does?" I take a step back. 'Trainer? Did the other Deino not call his master that way?' I take a step forward. "I don't need or want a master!" I'm sure you did already know, but yes I'm back to snarling.<br>"Wait!" He takes a few steps back again. "I'm not sure what you did hear about us, but it seems to be pretty negative so give me a chance to explain." I lower myself, but only a few inches. I'm not sure why, but I think I give him a chance. After getting me out of the lake he seems to be worthy. "I will listen, but no promises for anything after that."  
>We both take a few seconds to cool down a bit. "You heard something about the trainer being the master of his Pokemon?"<br>I nod. "I heard a Deino called the human he follows trainer. He said something about getting fed and having to fight." The human seems to get strangely stiff hearing my explanation. "Judging on our behavior that seems to be the core of it. Why else would you look so stressed, human?"  
>He gulps. "Ahem, yeah, you got the very basics. But I want to tell you more about the relation between a trainer and his partner."<br>"I'm more interested why you treat us as slaves and guide us to kill each other. I hope it's not just a sick hobby."  
>I admit I start snarling again at this point, but only a tiny bit. And that leads to him backing off again after we calmed down.<br>"Whatever you wish, just stop being so aggressive towards me." I continue and slowly get louder again. The coward takes a few more steps back, if he keeps on moving like that he will fall into the lake. He twitches. "As you wish. But first I need to mention almost no fight between two trainer ends with the death of any participant. I should continue before you get any more impatient. The reason we catch you is primary because most are not as smart as you and would not listen to us."  
>The compliment did not hit my sweat spot, after the fight with the weasel I feel rather stupid. "We do not treat you as slaves, but we should come back to this later. If we manage to catch and train you until you reach your maximum potential most of us participate in tournaments with our teams. The winner gets glory and cash, sometimes delicious food, too."<br>Yeah, mention delicious food while I'm hungry and I at least think about following you. I guess he notices my sudden interest after hearing about food. "You're hungry?"  
>I nod while my stomach is rumbling. "Wait a sec, I think I got something for you." That said he pulls out a can, you can imagine the picture on it.<br>I ignore my pain and jump forward. I collapse, but with my teeth around the can. He's shocked by my outburst, or at least I think that's the reason. I set the foot down and open it with a swift bite. A glance to him, I think I can see a mix of hope, happiness and, I'm not sure greed maybe? I gorge down the food.  
>Suddenly I think I know why he stares at me that way. Before the color of my spots was lit by fire and could have been a result of that, but with me facing away it's clearly my natural tone.<br>"You stare at something?" I have to keep my voice down, but he still twitches, almost guilty if you ask me.  
>"Where your markings always that way?"<br>"Red? Yeah, why?"  
>"You are aware the casual color is more purple then red?"<br>"I already thought about that after meeting a different Deino. But why do you care? You told me I might join your team and get the chance to get free food. If you want to back out of that promise tell me now and I go."  
>I really mean what I say. He helped me, but if he does not accept my differences to a normal Deino I leave him alone. Most people who meet me end up dead, so I won't shed a tear if he wants me to leave. Because of that I ready myself to get going, the stupid leg won't hinder me.<br>"Wait!" If he keeps yelling this it could get his catchphrase. "I did not want to try to shoo you away by doing a remark on your spots. Sorry."  
>An awkward silence builds up. As it starts to get unbearable my fatigue becomes too heavy and I fall onto the ground again. I slowly get back up and walk up to the fire again.<br>"You got a name? I don't want to call you Deino all the time."  
>I shake my head. "No, why would I have needed one? I only traveled alone most time for the last week."<br>"Last week? That sounds like a very long time the way you say it."  
>"How long was I out?"<br>"You did only need one day to recover from your dive into the lake. Lucky you seemed to be in tip-top conditions before. Most Deino I heard of would have died by the freezing cold. So how old are you? When did you start to try to harden up against ice?"  
>"I think two weeks."<br>"You did only need two weeks to get this resistant? Wow."  
>I shake my head, I'm not sure how many Deinos he had met, but they seemed to be weaklings. "No, I'm two weeks old. A bit of training this nasty ice weakness started yesterday."<br>I can't believe the human did almost faint after I told him my age. He coughs. "I think I could say I'm extremely lucky to have met you in a weakened state. You would have shredded my partner and most likely killed me. Anyway we were talking about a suitable name for you, right?"  
>"Yeah, I think you stopped there. So you have something on your mind?"<br>"Wyv?" "You're joking, right? That sounds like you did bark."  
>"Drago?" "I think we are getting closer, but no, not that one."<br>"Drakke?" I feel like that did hit something inside of me. "I like that one."  
>"It's Drakke then."<br>"And your name?"  
>"I did forget to introduce myself? Damn." He jumps onto his feet and does a short bow. "I hate myself for being so off sometimes. I'm Kitaro." He sits back down.<br>I slowly walk closer until only a few inches separate us. "That's it? Now you're officially my trainer and such?"  
>He falls onto his back and smacks his forehead. Afterwards he pulls out one of this red-white capsules.<br>"I have to catch you with a Pokeball. You will get trapped in this for a little while. If you don't struggle it should be over in a few seconds and I will release you back out as soon as possible."  
>"But hurry up! I hate to get compressed or suppressed or anything else on that line."<br>He raises his hand and a white beams makes contact with me. Next second I feel myself being sucked in and have to fight not to try to break free. It feels like it would be that easy.  
>As soon as I hear a click the pressure lowers to a more or less acceptable point, but I still want to get out. I don't want to wait any longer and use what little power I have left to release myself.<br>' Wow that was really easy.'"was that long enough?"  
>"Yeah it was, but how did you get out? I got told a Pokemon would need extreme physical or mental power to break free after the ball captured it."<br>"I don't want to sound arrogant or something like that, but how weak is the average captured victim?"  
>I have to keep down and a low profile if I want to achieve the maximum, but every new detail my master tells me about the traitors let them sink in my eyes. I can't allow myself to get my ego build up that much, the last time almost got me killed.<br>"I think we both should take a nap and see what tomorrow brings. You learned a lot, and I think I did too." The plan of my trainer seems logical so I nod and lay down.  
>A peaceful and hopefully recovering slumber is just what I need to get to my full power again, besides a good meal.<p>

End of chapter 6. So he did not die after all, who would have guesses that. Hope you enjoyed, no action this part, but I think I made an overdose last chapter. Review and if you like you can send me OCs( I won't promise they survive, but hey danger makes life worth living right?). And I hope the Line Breaks help to loose the mashed together feeling, to tell the truth it was a bit hard for me to think of a believable way to get him out of the lake. But thanks for mentioning it.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and make no money with this, not like I would try anyway.

Chapter 7

I wake up on a nice, warm and soft bed. 'Wait a sec, did I not fall asleep on the ground?'  
>The memories of yesterday start to come back, but I still don't know how I did end up on this nice sleeping spot. I open my eyes and look down to see my trainer. That explains a lot. But taking a closer look Kitaro does not look too happy with my choice of place to take a nap.<br>I slowly get onto my feet and walk off him. Hope he does not take that personal. He groans while getting into a sitting position. "You seemed to enjoy your sleep."  
>I look a bit embarrassed, but more puzzled. "I have no idea how I did end up sleeping on you. Normally I don't move in my sleep."<br>"I think we ignore this topic for the moment."  
>"I have a new question. I'm not your only partner, right?"<br>"Yeah, I think we should make a quick introduction and test your abilities."  
>He grabs a capsule, he did call them Pokeballs, and releases a Pignite. "I thought you want to show me your team, not my breakfast. He looks tasty."<br>Kit coughs."This is Flig. I started my journey with him and I think he is one of my best friends and partners."  
>The pig looks onto the ground. "Don't honor me that much. Without your help I would still be a Tepig."<br>"Or my next lunch if we would have met." I know we should work together, but one or two bites would be great.  
>"And who is this little dragon? A new member of our team or a test for my patience?"<br>I lick my lips while Kitaro has to gulp. He looks like he has a problem with his nerves. "He is a new member. I think I will let the others introduce themselves. I get a heart attack if everyone gets this greeting."  
>He pulls out three more balls and releases the rest of his team.<br>First I see a snow cone with one large head. 'More food?'  
>Second a funny, black dressed girl who gets out, takes a look around and lifts piggy. I turn to her. "Don' you dare to touch him!"<br>Flig and the girl look at me confused. "If anyone eats him , it's me!" The pig drops onto the ground while the psychic type focuses at me.  
>Anyway, the last member seems to be something made out of clay. It switches between looking at me and the somehow fast exhausting Gothorita. 'What does she do? I can't see any results besides her almost collapsing.'<br>Our trainer looks at her too until something seems to snap inside of him. "Goth stop. It's no use, you only kill yourself, if you try to lift him!"  
>She stops glowing, I did not even notice she has started, and throws me a glare. "So he is even heavier than he looks? Impressive, I can't believe something outweighs Flig."<br>Before anyone could react I jump forward, land on top of her and try to use my weight to squash her. Kit is the first to react and realize what I just did. "Drakke, please get down, don't kill your teammates."  
>Next one is Flig who just grabs my waist and lifts me off her. She grins again. "Better luck next time, Drakky."<br>Bad luck for her Flig holds me in a way I still face her and because he does not want to hurt me I have enough space left to grasp my power and hit her with my dragon breath. She is out cold and I have to grin. Maybe this will be more fun than I first thought. My trainer looks puzzled, then forces himself to smile. "So the sparring match with Goth won't be necessary anymore. Let's start with Cream and Drakke instead."  
>The ice Pokemon seems to grin and almost cry at the same time. "Poor Goth. Don't hold back, dragon."<br>I lick my lips while looking at the Vanillish. "Can I eat her if I win?"  
>"No!"<br>"A tiny bite?"  
>"No."<br>"You're no fun."  
>While I have this little chat with my master I walk over to my opponent. I whisper to her. "Sooner or later I get my snack, Creamy."<br>Telling her that I step to the left as she tries to hit me with a white, cold beam. "You missed."  
>She floats forward and tries a mix of a tackle and a headbutt. A dodge later I let fire engulf my teeth and bite her, I think it is the neck, ripping out a mix of flesh and snow.<br>"I like your taste."  
>She seems to be in a mix of pain, anger and something else. I wonder why she is blushing as she turns around.<br>Kit is screaming again. "I told you not to eat her!"  
>"It's only a flesh wound, that will heal. Don't go so soft on her!"<br>She seems able to continue to fight, so I walk in front of the next tree. I grin. "You have enough already?"  
>She runs, floats, forward and fires a second beam. I evade, run around to the other side of the now frozen tree and tackle it.<br>It falls onto the ice pokemon and I walk over to our trainer. "That was an easy enemy. The others are tougher, right?"  
>I glance over to Flig and Golett. "You think you can handle a two versus one against Flig and Melog?"<br>"I won't die if I lose, so why should I worry?"  
>None of them seems too happy to hear that. Both run at me simultaneously. "Don't get cocky, Drakky!" They even scream at the same time while charging at me.<br>I try to step to the right and bite Flig left hand. I succeed, but the next step of my plan, to swing the pig into the clay thingy, did not turn out that well. What I thought to be fat on piggy has to be muscles as he simply picks me up on his left hand and slams his fist, with me attached to it, against the fist of Melog. "Ouch."  
>"Still thinking you're superior?"<br>"And want to eat me?"  
>I'm a bit dizzy, but I don't think they are that much stronger than me, even if working together. "You two did some training on that move before?" I let go and drop onto the ground.<br>"You give up?" The ground type did not seem too concerned.  
>I snarl, there is no use, but it gives me a bit of confidence and I need that if I want to continue. "If that's all you two got I think I can think about taking a nap before finishing you."<br>My taunting does work, as both try to kick me while I'm still between them. I roll out of the way and while I see them kicking each other for a few seconds I feel a new power building up. My fangs feel like frozen and I try out my new power by letting my instincts guide me again and doing a serial of bites at Melogs leg. "Ouch, that's cold. How did you do that?"  
>A few quick bites while circling him later he seems unable to move.<br>I could have dodged the burning pig jumping onto me, but I did forget about him while freezing the Golett. "The psycho was right. You are heavy." My dragon scales ease the heat, but I have to get out before I get flattened. I struggle, but it seems to be in vain. I feel my air supply getting low and blackout.  
>To get back by a slap after what feels like a few seconds. I keep my eyes closed, it's no fun fighting if you're not allowed to eat your enemy.<br>I hear Kitaros voice. "We did tell him to tap out if he needs air and is unable to continue, right?"  
>Next I hear Flig."I did not."He sounds unsure.<br>"I think me neither, damn. You think we lost him?"  
>"I was already worried by the time me and Melog squashed him. I did put a bit too much power into my punch and by the sound of it Melog did the same. And you are aware we only use it against fully evolved Pokemon and even they react with more then a little flinch."<br>"That scared me a bit. He did flinch, but was able to get up and take down Melog after getting hit. When did you notice he stopped moving?"  
>"That's a bit confusing. He stopped struggling after a minute, but his dark pulse did hit me a few seconds afterwards. Because of that I did wait an additional minute before taking a look at him."<br>I raise my head a bit hearing I would have created a dark pulse. 'I never did that before, no wait I felt a dark aura on my second day, but how does it work? It seems to be based on my instinct for survival alone, but there has to be a way to use it willingly.'  
>Any further thoughts of mine are interrupted by a crying Cream ramming me. "You're alive!"<br>I shiver a tiny bit. "Yes, I am. And I would appreciate if you back off a bit, sweetie, you're too cold." I do like her, especial her taste, I would take a bite in a while if I get the opportunity, but I think I would leave enough to recover for her. And to evade discussions, sweetie like sweet taste not sweetheart.  
>As soon as she backs off I'm confronted with the almost completely opposite. A huge, flaming pig hugging me, I'm more comfortable with fire than with ice, and the thought of taking a quick bite crosses my mind, but that's an awful lot of contact, so I just mumble. "A bit of space and air, please."<br>The pig takes a step back and I get a chance to see the other teammates are alive and up, too. The Gothorita throws me a glare while Melog seems to has a confused look on his face, it's hard for me to read anything out of his face, as he looks at Cream and me.  
>' Did I miss something important?' After all that our trainer walks up to me. "How long have you been awake?"<br>"Since the last slap someone gave me." Kit staggers a bit. "We only tried that once."  
>"Mind to tell me how long I was out?"<br>"Flig tried to wake you up with a slap right after he got off you."  
>"So only a bit over minute."<br>Flig walks over to us again."You want to say you did blackout after you stopped struggling?"  
>"Yes."<br>"And you did not try to use dark pulse?"  
>"No, I did use it only once while awake and that was at the day after I hatched."<br>The pig coughs. "You did not train the move and are able to use it in a strength I am able to feel?"  
>"Is that a sign for your weakness or my strength?"<br>"You risk getting under me again!"  
>"If I get the chance to eat you I'm ready for the next round!"<br>Kitaro watches our little, verbal fight for a while before raising his hands. "Both of you stop! The sparring if over and we have to get moving."  
>He lifts the capsules and we get sucked in. Instantly I feel trapped and attempt to break out. Resulting in me getting out again and gaining a puzzled look from my trainer. "I should ask someone who has some knowledge on that matter if a Pokeball can break if a captured Pokemon keeps forcing it's way out."<br>"Stop forcing me in and there won't be a problem." We walk quiet for a few minutes. He's not that fast, but my leg is still healing, so the slower pace is absolutely fine for me.  
>"You got no more questions, Drakke?"<br>"Only a tiny one. What are we going to do next? Head to some tournament and win delicious food?"  
>He scratches his head. "No. The most tournament force you to have a minimum of badges to participate and I have so few I'm only allowed on a few low ranked ones as I have only three badges."<br>"So we head to the next place to get a badge?"  
>"In short terms? Yes, but we have to win a fight against a gym leader to get the badge."<br>After a few more hours of walking we reach our destination.  
>"Nimbasa City?"<br>"Yeah, we will try to get the Bolt badge here."  
>"If you're always so high spirited before fighting in a gym I think I know why you only have so few badges. A bit more confidence, please!"<br>I grin, I hope I get some nice snacks if I win.  
>"You do not think about food again, do you?"<br>"But I like food and thinking about it."  
>"Please, when the fight starts concentrate, I need the badge to continue my journey and get a champion."<br>"Can I eat the gym leaders Pokemon?"  
>"No, but I buy you something tasty if you win."<br>"You promise?"  
>"Yes"<br>"Then I promise to focus on the fight."  
>"Deal, but let's go to a Pokecenter first. I think we all need some rest and a check-up if you are fit and ready for the fight."<br>My leg comes to my mind, but it healed to the level of an itching scratch so to say, nothing anyone would worry about. And my breathing did get a lot better lately, too, after the Mienfoo almost cut off my air supply while standing on my neck. So nothing to worry about.  
>"I hope the nurse does not overreact on every scratch she sees. I got a few, but nothing serious."<br>"Then you don't have to worry, she only mentions serious injuries, like a broken bone or something like that." My bone feels like it did grow together again, so nothing to worry about. I grin. I'm almost back to tip-top-condition.  
>We enter the building and Kit walks straight to a counter. "Hey, I would like to have a quick checkup on these four guys and a detailed one on Drakke."<br>Telling her that he pulls out the balls with my teammates and then points at me.  
>The woman points to a spot in front of the bar. "Come over please. We can't check you if you don't come near."<br>"Does she understand me?"  
>"I do." I slowly step closer. "But hurry up, I don't want to miss dinner."<br>She looks at me calm. "You don't move like you have any injuries, but if your trainer wants a elaborate checkup I will do one."

Half an hour later the nurse seems to have lost her peace. "I'm shocked you are even alive and able to stand! The bone of your left front leg looks like it has been shattered and is slowly growing together again, your airway did take some serious damage in the past and your spots look like they will start to bleed any second!"  
>Her screaming did catch the attention of my master and he runs over as fast as seems capable of. "You told me you were fine."<br>"I am, only a bit hungry, can we go to dinner already?"  
>The nurse shakes her head. "What sort of trainer gets a Pokemon of less then half a year in the kind of battle that leads to broken bones and a damaged air tube? And how did you manage to get his spots to get so sore they look like the will burst any second?"<br>I snarl. "I was born with those spots."  
>Before I get the chance to start something stupid Kitaro steps between us. "Wait, what? You said something about broken bones and a damaged air tube? I think the damage on the air tube could be the result of our first sparring match with my Pignite as he did get squashed by the pig, but I had no idea you have a broken bone somewhere. Did you trip somewhere on our walk here?"<br>"The bone did look more like it was shattered and less broken. But you seem to have no idea what I'm talking about so I'm sorry. You do not seem to have any connection to his injuries."  
>"I'm wondering how he was even able to survive, he told me he was two weeks old, and it sounds like there was a lot of pain in his past."<br>I have to cough to remind them I'm still there. "I think both injuries are the result of a fight of mine directly before I did meet my trainer. The Mienfoo did stand on my neck and performed a jump kick against my leg, I think I did even her a crack. But as you said before the wounds are all healed up, so no need to get dramatic. Give me some nice sleep and a big chunk of some meat and I will be in fighting condition in no time."  
>The nurse first looks shocked, but soon waves her hand at me. "If you do not feel like you need any medical care I can't force you. Trainer, take good care of this one, he seems to be awful thick headed and has a strong will, a strong breed. And as a little favor the restaurant at the corner, left if you leave the Pokecenter, does have some great dishes for Pokemon."<br>I nod and start to walk out while I hear Kitaro thanking the nurse and pick up the rest of his team.  
>A delicious dinner later, the nurse was right about the restaurant, we walk to a nearby hotel and get ready to sleep. I lay down on the couch and slowly nod off.<br>' Tomorrow will be an important day, I hope we are ready.'

End of chapter 7. I think this can be described as a chapter of both a lot of chatting and a bit of fighting, but hey I have to get somewhere with the story. Like always I hope you enjoyed it and reviews are welcome.  
>And I would like to hear if it is okay if I leave the dialogs the way they are or if I should add a short letter to show who says what. If nobody moans I leave it the way it is.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and gain nothing by writing this, only a review if I'm lucky.

Chapter 8

I wake up on something soft. I keep my eyes closed, if it is my trainer again I could at least get the best out of this and keep my spot as long as possible.  
>But my worries,wait I did not worry I slept on my trainer, right? I think I should slow down this friendship thing a bit, my own welfare should always stay first priority, not if a human has problems to breath. Where did I stop? Ah yes, I hear my trainer on my left side, so I did stay on my place this night, no change of place. I think moving in my sleep is something to worry about , because it will get you in trouble in the wild.<br>"I saw you moving, I know you're awake, Drakke." So my talents as actor could be improved, but I don't give up. I have a feeling if I get up some hard work will come up to me. 'Wait, we have to get into the gym! The sooner we get there the sooner I get something delicious.'  
>I jump down onto the ground and glance over to Kitaro, he looks to be ready to go, I ram the door open and hear a quick scream, but it ends quick so nothing to worry, right? "Why did you break the door open? I could have just opened it for you. And I think I heard a scream."<br>"It did not sound dangerous. Let's get to our breakfast and then into the gym."  
>"I have to remind you not to eat anyone."<br>"I did only take one bite from Cream and she did not seem to mind."  
>"Cream is normally scared if someone's tries eating her. I think it has something to do with her background."<br>"How did you meet her and the other ones? Flig was you starter, but Goth and Melog got captured later, right?"  
>"I met her in Castelia City. I just wanted to buy a little refreshment and heard of the great Casteliacone. Before I could take the first lick I heard the ice whimper and noticed it was a Vannillite. After a short talk she decided to come with me. But for a while she was not able to watch me lick or eat anything. And before your fight with her I was not sure if she could stand getting bitten, she always fainted if attacked with bite or any fang attack."<br>"I did not see anything unnatural on her after I did bite her. Only a blush."  
>"Blush? I think I should think about that later."<br>While taking we did get to the area to get something to eat. I hop onto the first table with flesh I see and start gorging it down as fast as possible.  
>"Stop, I did not pay for that food!"<br>"I saw you paying someone so we could walk in here, but we have to pay more to eat something? Sounds stupid to me." I only take a short interruption to tell him this before continuing to eat. It might not be my food, but if it is in my stomach, they can't get it back so it will be my food!  
>"Wait I think I have a deal for you. I will tell you anything about my team you want to know if you stop eating anything in your reach. I pay for the damage you did and we go somewhere with all-you-can-eat."<br>"What does that mean? Some special food they would not dare to give someone somewhere else?"  
>"If the cook is bad, yes, but all-you-can-eat just means you can eat as much as you want to in the time you pay for it."<br>"That sounds great."  
>After a short walk we find a place that really has this all-you-can-eat-thingy and after taking a look at me size the person who sells the tickets to get in tells Kitaro he would only have to pay half the price for me. Kit smirks and gives the man the full price for me. "I don't want to ruin you."<br>As soon as the money has changed sides I charge to the bar and dive into the first dish, tastes like Pansear.  
>After the dish is empty I walk to the next one I gorge it down. 'A bit like Pansear, but also like the vegetables I ate some time ago. Hope I don't get sick again. Wait this has to be Pansage.'<br>The next dish even smells like a mix of Pansear and Basculin. Panpour, so they do not only look familiar, but also taste similar.  
>"How does you Deino do that? It just ate at least double it's weight and still looks hungry?"<br>"Because of that I paid you the normal price. He will keep that up for the next hour if I let him, so the money is well-invested."  
>As Kitaro has guessed I can keep up for the full time and slowly move to the kitchen. "What happens if I can't find anything to eat anymore?"<br>Suddenly the owner of the place holds up an hourglass. "Your hour is over. Now please get out before I really have to question my sanity. How can something eat it's own weight that many times and still look for more?"  
>Kitaro just waves at me and we walk out. "Next stop will be the gym?"<br>"Yes. You aren't really hungry anymore, right?"  
>"My hunger is sated, but I think after a nice fight I could think about eating something again."<br>"You are not aware where all the food goes you eat? The man was right, you did eat a multiple of your own weight."  
>"I think I feel my power swelling if I eat a lot, but I had not much of a chance to test the theory, as I had to fight to find enough flesh, leave alone finding the mass necessary to feel an increase in my power."<br>We finish the walk to the gym in silence. I grin. "You're ready to receive the next badge?"  
>"I would not be standing here if I wouldn't."<br>I ram the door open and step in to see a bright spotlight focusing on me. "Why does a single Pokemon walk in here?"  
>Kit walks next to me. "He's part of my team. And sorry for the door, Drakke thought it was stuck."<br>"I did not think that."  
>"Keep quiet for a few seconds, okay? It's not wise to break open every door you see."<br>"You're no fun."  
>We hear a laughter. "If you two are finished with your discussion I would like to know if you are ready to challenge me or just want to damage my gym."<br>I try to see who talks to us. "Can't we do both? I'm not sure if after my fight the gym will be in a good condition."  
>"Keep your mouth shut, Drakke! I want to challenge you."<br>Elesa, I think that's her name I heard Kit murmuring something like that, steps into the light while we see some vehicles move behind her. "Normally you would have to go through this roller coaster ride first, but the technicians did somehow break the stopping mechanism, so nobody can get in or out, not the mention the noises. Lucky we have enough space here to fight and don't have to get to the official place. Drakke was the name of your dragon? I tell you one thing, take a good look at the badge if you fight the way you look like you do there is no way you beat my Pokemon."  
>I snarl. "We will see about that. And now get going I have a meal waiting for me if I win!"<br>My trainer nods. "I also think we should get started, why does every gym leader try to talk me out of a fight?"  
>"If you insist on fighting me I would say we do two two-on-two-battles. You have enough Pokemon for that, right?"<br>Kitaro holds up his four capsules and then points at me. "Yeah, you want to add some stupid extra rules?"  
>"Everything goes."<br>I grin while Kitaro has to twitch. "I wish you wouldn't have said that, now I can't promise all you Pokemon get out alive."  
>He raises two balls and releases Melog and Flig.<br>"We do a three versus three?" Melog grins, or at least I hope it's a grin.  
>"Nah, I'm just watching you two. It's a double battle."<br>The gym leader releases a Zebstrika and a Emolga. "Finally we get some work to do." The two electric types seem confident to win.  
>"Can I take a bite from the Zebstrika if it loses?"<br>Elesa laughs. "He won't lose so I have no risk if I say yes."  
>My master slaps his forehead. "I will remind you of this after you freak out on my dragon."<br>The four participants of the first fight get into their battle stances while I sit next to my trainer. "The zebra looks tasty."  
>"You heard her if Melog and Flig win you get to take a bite."<br>I jump up. "Go, Melog! Go, Flig! You can do this!"  
>Both have to struggle not to burst out laughing, but soon grin. "If we get that much backup we can't lose, right Melog?"<br>"Positive."  
>A referee steps forward. "You can start."<br>Flig grabs the Goletts left arm and starts swinging the ground type. The flying mouse has jumped into the air and is charging at them in with an electric ball. Judging by it's desperate look it is unable to stop as it crushes face first into the accelerating first of Melog and gets smacked into the roller coaster cart that was coming into our direction at that second. Funny incident, at least for me, but the sound of it tells me it has to hurt a lot. Emolga stops moving and falls down.  
>Next I try to focus on the zebra, but it gets blurry and engulfed in flames as it steadily gets faster. I get dizzy just by following its movements. After half a minute or so it returns to its prior position. I glance over to Flig and Melog and see bruises and scratches all over them. But both seem more puzzled then hurt. Flig points at his chest. "Could you try to do something I can feel instead of just running around? I did not even feel most of the hits."<br>Suddenly two spikes leave his chest. The Zebstrika has taken the chance of his enemies being distracted and pierced through my favorite pig. I have to take a second look, but the Pignite still grins. He grabs the horns of the electric type while Melog slowly walks around them. "Don't turn him too fast again, Melog, last time its took us hours to get rid of the stench. And I heard electro types fire all their electricity if they die and I don't want to get roasted. Get ready for a small snack, Drakky."  
>I watch while Melog grabs the waist of the zebra and slowly starts turning it clockwise. The horns are still in the same position and I think the neck of the Zebstrika has to take some pressure now. Soon we hear a crack and the Zebstrika stops trying to struggle free. I happily leap onto the battle ground and take a bite. "It really does taste good. Want a bite too, Flig?"<br>The pig looks at me shocked. "You did really mean it?"  
>The same look was on the face of Elesa. "Get him away from my Pokemon! I said one bite and I regret giving you permission for only one."<br>Flig and Melog return into their balls while I stay on the battle ground. "I want to be in the next fight. You don't mind, Kit, right?"  
>He shakes his head.<br>The once cool leader seems to have lost her patience with me, she throws two more balls onto the field. A Galvantula and a Stunfisk. "They both don't look tasty, that's mean."  
>Both newcomer scream at me. "You won't get a bite anyway!"<br>Their trainer waves at them. "Don't underestimate him. In the previous fight Emolga and Zebstrika got taken down in less then two minutes. And you know normally the Pokemon of a trainer are always on a similar level."  
>I grin. "Don't discourage them. They will find out soon enough if they are strong enough to beat me and... wait, Kitaro could you please finally decide who is going to be my partner."<br>As an answer I see Cream getting released. "You had no team training with any of them yet, so I think I can be called lucky if you don't take each other out."  
>Cream gets closer and whispers. "If you take out the spider I could consider letting you bite me again."<br>I'm high spirited again, that's a great incentive after all. "I will exceed myself, sweetie."  
>The referee comes onto the field again. "Next round starts."<br>I focus on the spider and fire my dragon breath while running at her. From the corner of my eye I see the Vanillish firing a ice beam at the fish. We both miss, but I got close enough to the spider to engulf my teeth with flames and take a bite, ripping out flesh. A shocking and awful taste, nothing I would like to eat more often.  
>The Stunfisk seems to load a discharge, but a second beam makes contact and he is frozen solid. The Galvantula staggers seeing her partner frozen and I take the chance to tackle her against the ice block. Keeping her pressed against the block I rip of one of her mouth antenna things. She tries to get revenge by throwing a electroweb at me, but the loss of her mouth thing leads to a clear miss. I back off a bit to tackle her against the ice block again, for all of you who think the fish is frozen in a cube I have to make a little correction, it's more like an irregular and ragged block, so it's no wonder she starts to bleed in her back while her chest also is shabby. "Cream, this one taste terrible, could I get an ice pale, please."<br>She grins and creates a pale with her ice beam I use to finish of the spider by impaling her. I don't want to have to bite her anymore, the taste is too gross. Backing off I glance over to the Stunfisk slowly turning blue inside the ice.  
>The referee steps in. "Stunfisk is unable to continue, I won't mention Galvantula."<br>"Can I take my bite now?" I grin, but I really have to do something against the spider taste in my mouth.  
>Cream shudders for a moment, but slowly turns her back to me. "But only a small bite." She continues mumbling. "How did I even came to this stupid idea?"<br>I carefully move closer and take a tiny bite, enough to wash away the taste, but hopefully not enough to hurt her more then necessary. 'I have to think of a better way to do this, she always seems close to crying if I bite her, but I can't let the chance pass to eat something that delicious.'  
>I swallow my little meal and grin. The taste never fails to lift my mood. I look to me trainer to see him receiving the Bolt badge. "And if I ever see this dragon again I will poison him. Now get out!"<br>Vanillish returns to her ball and I walk, more like run, after my trainer and leave the city behind me. "Why the hurry? You told me about a delicious meal after we win."  
>"First of all you did take a bite of Cream. Again. Second the gym leader was extremely unhappy you first took a bite of her half-dead Zebstrika and later impaled her Galvantula. Besides why did you not bite off the head of the spider?"<br>"The taste was awful and gross. I hate bugs."  
>"Finally something you don't want to eat. And why did you bite Cream? She did not taunt or attack you."<br>"She told me it would be okay if I take out the Galvantula. And it was only a tiny bite."  
>"She told you to bite her? I want you to drop that topic and never talk about it again. I get headache just thinking about it."<br>"So no bonus meal for me?"  
>"Maybe if we reach the next town I buy you something, but we won't go back to Nimbasa for your meal."<br>After a while my boredom comes back. I'm sure my leg is fine, I did not even feel the little pulsing feeling I had by the time it healed.  
>"Are Flig and the other just sluggish or why do you always carry them around? Maybe Flig loses a few pounds if he walks a few steps."<br>"Maybe you are right. But if anyone does not want to walk you will carry the consequences."  
>"Like having to fight Goth? That would be fun and no punishment."<br>Kitaro releases my teammates. Flig is the first to realize there is no opponent or any other Pokemon. "Why did you let us out?"  
>"Drakke said you could need a little walk to get in better shape, so I let you choose who wants to walk and who wants to go back in his ball."<br>Goth grins. "Seems like I'm not the only one who thinks you have weight problems, Flig."  
>I cough. "I know he is weighty, he did sit on me."<br>"That's no fat only muscles!"  
>"Then a little walk won't hurt, right?"<br>I think at that point Gothorita realizes she would have to walk, too. "But as a psychic type I don't need to train my body, I think I will pass on the training."  
>Flig and myself laugh hearing that. "You fear to get in a better shape and don't look so unhealthy?"<br>"I don't look unhealthy!"  
>I step forward. "Sorry, but some people like me can wear black, others like you can't."<br>"You think I have a choice about what to wear? That's my natural color, red-spots!"  
>I flinch, my spots are something I take rather serious. Next second I'm on top of her and try to bite off her head. Flig runs up to us, but I suddenly feel a power buried in this mix of anger and hate flooding me. I grasp at it and feel a dark aura wrapping around my body.<br>My innermost being seems to resonate with this force, I feel it filling my body, a strange focus on my spots, but I lose the feeling and release the energy, hearing a agonized scream escaping the mouth of the psychic type.  
>I feast on her pain and snap at her shoulder while the aura extends and hits Flig and Melog. The Pignite flinches and the Golett staggers and drops to the ground.<br>Suddenly an ice beam hits me and I snap back to reality, a taste of blood remains on my tongue. I realize I did bite Goth and ripped off some flesh. The dark matter on Flig and Melog vanishes and they grab me and pull me off Gothorita.  
>Kitaro runs over to Goth. "Are you okay?"<br>She tries to stand up, but fails and falls back onto the ground. I see she spits blood. I lay onto the ground, too weak to move or even grin at my victory, it feels like a bitter taste is dripping from it.  
>The Golett sits down next to me. It is shaking and I hear him mumbling something about dark memories and the need to calm down itself.<br>Flig is less affected. "That was an impressive dark pulse. The last one was a scratch compared to it."  
>The ground-ghost Pokemon slowly looks over to him. "How can you it be the attack had so little impact on you? All this hate, fear, pain, anger." It shakes. "And a blurry, but concentrated memory of great loss."<br>Goth looks over to the clay Pokemon. "I felt the same. I did not realize you are that sensitive to feelings."  
>"It was a barrage on my mind. As a ghost type there has to be a strong awareness of the origin of it."<br>Both, my ghost and my psychic teammates sigh.  
>Flig grins. " I think I have to call myself lucky my mind is more or less numb to all attacks like that."<br>I heard dark pulse would be an attack that focuses on the mind and does on little damage to the body while gaining power through negative emotions. After seeing the reaction of Melog and Goth I think I know what they mean by that.  
>The last one that keeps shaking is Gothorita maybe because she was so close to me when I used the attack. "Someone please remind me never to anger Drakky that much if he is in range for a leap." I am still unable to move, only panting after the outburst. The new move did take it's toll from me, I feel like I did ran for miles.<br>Flig was least affected by my attack and so he had fully recovered by now. "I will remind you." He snickers.  
>We all remain silent for a moment. Cream floats over and I move a bit to let her sit down next to me. 'Does she know she saved Goths life? Without her ice beam there is no way I would have stopped before the end of Gothorita.'<br>My trainer steps forward. "I'm not sure how you were able to perform this move, but we have to train it."  
>We look at him shocked if I get better with it my next fury could kill Goth or anyone else who angers me. "I think there has to be a way to limit the power you use for the attack. Your panting look tells me it exhausts you to a very extend amount and there is no way we could use it in this raw form in any fight. You attack anything in range with it right now."<br>I nod. He is right, but I have no energy left to say anything.  
>The silence comes back and this time it gets really awkward until I feel my stomach rumbling. My master has to grin. "Anyone hungry?" I jump onto my feet, but collapse back down. 'Ouch, not this again.' I look up to him. "I could need a snack."<br>"Some things never change, huh? I packed a few more cans then normal so feel free to eat as much as you want. Not you, Drakke, you only get three cans."  
>Flig smiles. "You call me overweight, but eat three cans?"<br>"He did feast in an all-you-can-eat-restaurant for a full hour. The owner did not believe his own eyes."  
>"Small snacks?"<br>"No full dishes."  
>I snarl. "I need the food to get stronger."<br>"I remember you mentioned a power core or something inside of you, you use to attack. Do you other guys have such a feeling, too?"  
>Flig grins. "He really has to be a wild one. It's one of the first things we learn, but normally you forget it after a while."<br>Goth jumps up. Or at least tries, she falls back down, so I'm not the only one who has not fully recovered yet. "Sorry, piggy, but I have to interrupt you. Every psychic type has to find its power source for itself, but we use it for almost every attack."  
>I gulp. "I think I should have asked you that earlier, but how old are you guys? You sound as if you would use your power for years now."<br>"Like all wild Pokemon my parents got me to learn the basic attacks after I was one month old. Now I'm three years old, so yeah, I use my power for about 3 years now."  
>"Wait, you did learn the basics after one month?"<br>"You took longer to learn them? Would not surprise me."  
>I shake my head. "My training started at my third day, but mother could only show me the ropes before..." I gulp and face away, I thought I was over that. At least I succeed to suppress all sobbing and crying.<br>Cream comes floating over "Learning the basics up from the third day? You have to be a natural, the first lessons are said to be the hardest ones."  
>I slowly nod. "Yeah one of my first lessons was pretty hard. But how did we get to this topic anyway? We were talking about food and if anyone wants to walk a bit instead getting carried around."<br>Goth raises a hand. "I get carried around, no need to train my body, my mind is my weapon after all."  
>Flig grunts. "I will walk a bit. I think a bit fresh air and talking with you guys could be refreshing."<br>Cream nods. "I can't be wrong to train a bit and we can discuss the next gym battle."  
>Melog shakes his head. "I would only slow you down, I hate long walks and I think my species is not build to walk a lot anyway."<br>Our trainer raises two balls and Goth and the Golett vanish.  
>"I don't feel like already discussing the next gym. Does anybody of you think he will evolve anytime soon?"<br>Pignite nods. "I think I'm almost ready for my last evolution."  
>Cream shakes her head. "I think I will need some time, but I can already feel a bit of the needed energy to evolve."<br>And I just keep silent for a moment. "Evolve? Mother told me I would evolve into a Zweilous and Hydreigon later, but it would take a lot of time and effort as our evolution is rather late compared to other species. And I only feel my normal power, no special evolution kind."  
>Kitaro nods. "I also heard Deino need a lot of training to evolve, but you already seem pretty strong so I had to ask."<br>Cream comes closer to be. "We did get from one question to the next one, but you did only answer a few and some you did start to answer and stop. How old are you now?"  
>"Sixteen days. You?"<br>She gulps. "Two years. That sounds pretty old compared to you."  
>"You still look fresh to me."<br>Kitaro groans. "You can only think with your stomach, right?"  
>Flig chuckles. "I heard worse compliments then looking fresh."<br>I blink. "Compliment? It's the truth. She still smells and tastes good. How old does a Pokemon get anyway? Mother did never like to talk about the future or the past, so I'm not sure how old I can get."  
>Kitaro twitches. "I thought your mother died, you did sound as if she did." I look to the ground and do not respond. "Sorry, I should not have mentioned her. A typical Pokemon is able to live up to fifty years if I'm correct. Ghost, dark and dragons live up to seventy years while bugs and other ones with a very fast metabolism live only twenty years or less."<br>After I heard of Creams problems with biting attacks I think I have to say something nice after having bitten her so many times. "So a difference of two or three years is almost nothing. You are not even close to being old, Creamy."  
>Kit nods. "And if I remember correctly Melog said something about being two years or so, too."<br>Flig walks over and tries to pet my back, but I evade and snap at everything close to me. "Don't dare to touch my back!"  
>Both Cream and Flig back off a bit. "Don't overreact, Drakke."<br>Flig seems shocked by my outburst. "Hey, cool down. No need to rip my hand of for a little joke."  
>We remain silent for the next hour. I'm still angry at Flig, I really hate pressure on my back. I think it has something to do with my past, but slowly my first two days on the island start to blur. Some things like, I won't point that one out, don't think about it Drakke, won't get forgotten by me, but I hope the agony will get less and less over time. Finally we arrive at a bridge.<br>"Driftveil Drawbridge. We should soon get to the city and our next badge."  
>I grin. "No stupid insecurity this time. Great, there is no way we lose!"<br>Flig and Cream grin. "So that was the source of your security last battle. Normally he was stuttering and mumbling what to do."  
>"But this time I get my snack after the battle or I have to consider leaving."<br>Flig laughs while Cream twitches. "You can't leave your Pokeball so how do you think would you be able to leave?"  
>"I can leave my ball anytime I want to. And I think if I try hard enough I'm able to beat up all of you. Goth won't be a problem, Melog looked like my dark pulse hit him pretty effective, so only you and Cream would have a chance to stop me."<br>Kit lifts his hands. "Wait! I don't like where this is going to end. You get your meal before the fight and maybe after the fight a little snack, but only if the gym leader does not threatens me to kill you if we don't get going."  
>"We have a deal."<br>While we had our little chat we crossed the bridge and are now standing in the middle of the city.  
>"But I think we should rest for the moment. In the Pokecenter there should be a chance to get a half decent meal and tomorrow we try to find a nice restaurant with all-you-can-eat."<br>"Good plan."  
>I follow him into the center, but stop before we reach the bar. "I won't go through a stupid checkup again. I'm fine."<br>The nurse grins. "I heard something about a stubborn, but pretty strong Deino coming this way after eating the Pokemon of a gym leader. That's you I guess?"  
>I nod.<br>"Then it's my duty to check you for any serious injuries, I heard you have left Nimbasa without going into the Pokecenter for the normal checkup."  
>Kitaro seems a bit embarrassed. "Elesa told me she would poison Drakke, that's my Deino, if she ever sees him again, so I left the city as fast as possible."<br>"I see. You give me your Pokeballs for the checkup and I will ignore that you broke one of the basic rules for a trainer."  
>I slowly step forward. "But if you react to my wounds like the nurse in Nimbasa I will never go into one of these hospitals again."<p>

Half an hour later my checkup was done and this time the nurse was prepared for my wounds, meaning she tells me they did heal a great amount since the last time they were checked and giving me a small snack, some Patrat meat as she tells me.  
>I have to smile. "If every checkup ends this way I think I could endure it for a while."<br>Kitaro walks over and after he got told I was almost back to my tip-top-condition he has to grin, too. "First time I will see you without any almost deadly injuries."  
>"They were not deadly. Not even very painful, most of these caught idiots seem to be weaklings if they can't stand a broken leg."<br>Before I could say something that would make any other Pokemon in range, I think there are around twenty in the this room, more angry he just grabs my mouth. "Could you just one time not anger all captured Pokemon you meet?"  
>"I think about it. Let's go to the hotel, I want my nap and tomorrow will be an important day for us so we will need the rest."<br>He nods and we leave, under the glare of a few traitors, but I do not care what they think. Our room in the hotel is as nice and warm as the last one. I lay onto the couch again.  
>' If every gym battle goes as easy as the last one we will have these badges in no time.'<p>

End of chapter 8. Hope you enjoyed and reviews are welcome. And don't expect me to continue with chapters this large.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and won't make any money with this. Does really anyone think a fan would try to make money with Pokemon without permission?

Chapter 9  
>My hatred burns and is slowly devouring me.<br>I jump forward and bite into Fligs chest, wrapping my mouth around his heart. Retreating I swallow it down, tasting his strong, flaming taste.  
>I glance to Goth and see she is enveloped in dark matter, my dark pulse seems to strangle her mind while cutting her flesh to a minor extend.<br>"Drakke, please come back." I turn around to see Cream twitching. I focus and fire my dragon breath at her. It makes contact and I jump forward to feast on the delicious snack.  
>Melog is still unable to move after I did bite him with my ice fangs, so after my meal I walk over and leap at his head and he falls to the ground and shatters.<br>Our trainer watches my actions in horror. I feel my anger reaching its peak and tackle his leg to bring him to the ground face first. I walk on his back and begin to lick his skin, ripping it off his flesh. "How do you feel losing your scales?"  
>I feel sunlight touching my scales on my back. I become aware of what I'm doing and wake up on the couch.<br>I shake remembering my dream while a voice slowly fades away telling me I should embrace my past and take revenge. 'Kitaro did help me. If I blindly berserk and kill anyone in my way the rest of my life will be lonely and drenched in regret.'  
>I look down and see a bit of blood dripping from my spots. I feel my bloodlust subsides and the blood flow stops. I glance to my trainer and see he is still asleep.I hop onto his chest and he is trying to catch his breath.<br>"Ouch, did you really have to wake me up like that?"  
>"Should I lick your face next time to get you up?" I grin and point out my tongue while I have to control myself not to twitch as the dream returns. He shudders.<br>"No, I think I pass if it comes to that. Your tongue looks like you could rip off skin by licking with it."  
>"I can if I lick hard enough. But you smell, so I won't waste my taste by doing something like that."<br>"I smell? And when did you take your last bath?"  
>I remember the day we met. "You remember the frozen lake? That has to be the last time I bathed." I shake, I try to get stronger, but improving my ice resistance by doing something like that is out of question.<br>I look back to the now sitting Kit. He scratches his forehead. "Your spots don't feel different, right? They did bleed a bit yesterday after the pulse, but I don't see any remaining injury or something like that."  
>I think back to when I did wake up, but shake my head. "They felt, it's hard to describe, different, but they went back to normal after I calmed down."<br>"Don't try to use dark pulse next fight. We are not aware of every effect it has on you and your body."  
>I nod. "Can we get something to eat now? I think I could use a little boost for the gym fight."<br>An hour later we get thrown out of a place that has a big sign over it's front door. Kit told me it says "if you or one of your Pokemon is able to eat its tripled weight on food you get your meal for free!". They are sour loser to react like that if someone is able to beat them and ends like that. We walk to the gym and after my sufficient meal I feel my growing power, ready to get unleashed on whatever the gym leader puts in my way. The rest of the team is standing next to us.  
>"The last gym leader only used electric types. Is hat something normal?" Thinking about it leaves me confused.<br>My trainer tries to pet my back while slowly answering. I use all my will and suppress the aching need to bite his hand and concentrate on his answer. "Most gym specialize in one elemental type of Pokemon. The next leader, Clay, will only use ground types. But most train their partners until only a slight weakness remains."  
>I feel the glare of Flig and start to snarl. "Hands off my back or I can't promise you will enter the gym with two hands."<br>Kitaro backs off a bit. "Sorry." After that our master tries to open the door.  
>I grin. "Need a little help?"<br>"But don't break it again."  
>"It's a door, it has to be open, else it would be a wall."<br>Flig walks forward. "Just open it, stop this stupid discussion."  
>I ram the door and it slowly opens up. We hear a laughter.<br>"See? I told you there are trainer willing to take our challenge and break open the door."  
>Kit looks confused. "Should the challenge not be on the inside?"<br>A trainer, most likely the leader of the gym, Clay, walks up to us. "But the blockade made of sand was inside. Clay is on a business trip and I'm in charge of the gym instead. Call me Clark."  
>"And why did there has to be a challenge anyway?"<br>"League tells us to. But you passed so let us start with the fight so I can close the door for the next challenger. We will both use three Pokemon, no killing and the field is over there. Questions?"  
>Kitaro shakes his head and gets into position. I can't help myself, so I have to ask. "No killing does not mean I can't bite and eat a bit if the enemy is tasty, right?"<br>The gym leader nods. "As long as the opponent is able to recover later you can do as you wish."  
>Kit turns to face me. "The standard rules for most battles, Drakke."<br>Clark pulls out his first Pokeball. A Krookodile appears. Flig walks onto the field.  
>A referee, I think he looks familiar and I don't only think it's the uniform, walks up. "First round."<br>In a, for me, unbelievable speed Pignite runs to the crocodile and almost lifts it up with an uppercut. The ground type bites into the pigs right hand, but he just slams it on the ground before engulfing in flames and jumping on its back.  
>The stupid Krookodile did not want to let go and so we hear a crack as its neck bends over a bit over the point where it could normally go. Flig twitches for a second. "Hope we don't get disqualified because of the problem with its neck."<br>Clark shakes his head and lifts the capsule again and our first opponent returns. The Pignite starts to glow and grow. As the light vanishes I see an Emboar.  
>"That's an evolution?"<br>Flig grunts. "Yeah, and you feel a lot stronger afterwards. But I think we should talk about it later."  
>Kit raises Fligs ball and he returns. Next to walk, float, onto the field is Cream. As an opponent an Excadrill steps onto the field. I'm a bit shocked as the Vanillishs first ice beam makes contact, but the steel type just shakes it of and runs forward while getting into a spinning motion.<br>After a short while it seems to have gathered enough momentum as it raises its claws above its head and hits Cream in a whirl of steel with metallic glowing claws. The ice Pokemon collides with a wall and sinks down. I shake a bit, that looked awful painful for Creamy.  
>Kit looks worried, too. "Are you okay or do you want to retreat? You don't have to blame yourself if you don't want to continue."<br>Cream floats back up, but soon falls back down and stops moving. The referee steps next to her and quickly checks her. "Vanillish is out cold. Victor is Excadrill."  
>I jump into the ring. "Nobody hurts my tasty Cream."<br>The Excadrill looks puzzled for a moment before going into its battle stance again. Clark laughs. "Even if you would win this fight it won't count. Let me present you with a different enemy to cool down."  
>The gym leader snickers and changes his current representative to a Seismitoad.<br>The referee raises his hand, I think I see a grin on his face, and I jump forward, anger slowly flooding my head. The frog evades my leap, but I turn my head and hit it dead on with my dragon breath. While it takes a step back I tackle him, sending him to the ground.  
>I hear the faint voice again, telling me to embrace my hate and use it. I trust my instincts and dive into my hatred, feeling the dark aura around my body again. I extend it and feel it crushing into a emotionless, purple aura I notice for the first time around the frog. I keep going and crush the aura surrounding the toad. As it disappears I increase the energy in my dark pulse and bite the frog to eat it and feast on its flesh, but feel poison on the Seismitoads skin. I try to force it back out, but I already feel it corrupting my essence. I feel the frog stops struggling and fall to the ground. While I try to clean the venom out of my body I hear a cream from Kitaro and get sucked into a capsule, but the sudden, extreme pressure tells me it is not the one my trainer used to catch me. I struggle to break free, but the poison drains me off my power and I hear a clicking sound.<br>'I have a new trainer?' I can't believe what just happened, but I'm not able to break out of the ball.

Time passes on, but I can't tell how many hours I spent in the ball, I need the sun to measure time. Only bright side I can see in this circumstance is the venom now lays on an outer layer of my skin as if my body would cast it out somehow. My skin itches and I feel as if it could break loose soon.  
>I feel I get released, but as I appear I only see a few blinking lights in the darkness.<br>"Initiate check for consisting level of shadow state." A weird, red light scans my body.  
>"Shadow state one detected. Initiate process to further seal the heart of the Pokemon to state two." I'm puzzled by the mechanical voice as waves of energy hit me, a mix of elements. I think they consist of ghost, dark, psychic, fighting and a strange other type, the same I felt on the Seismitoad. I hear the monotone voice counting up to seventy while always adding "percent completed" afterwards. "Seventy-one percent, failure! Emergency check!" I feel my memories fading and try to follow them into some strange cage that has build around parts of my heart, barely able to concentrate on the voice. Moments later the voice continues talking, but the energy waves stopped at seventy-one percent, whatever that meant. "Check completed. Change into shadow stage two failed at seventy percent. Deploying note about irregularities. Not enough space available. Error."<p>

'Who am I?'  
>I hear or feel a faint answer. 'Drakke.'<br>'Who are you?' Is there a response? I feel bitter hatred and darkness extending from parts of my heart, but no clear thoughts, so I try to shield myself from this strange emotions, but collide with some kind of seal. Touching it I feel a large amount of agony behind it, so I retreat and look at my surroundings. I see a few dim lights dots, but besides these only darkness. I sniff, but a lot of others seemed to have been here, there is no clear scent.  
>I feel my skin falling off and revealing a second similar layer, but I feel all venom laying on the ground. I slowly stand up and use my dragon breath to incinerate the leftovers. 'There should not be any reminders of, I'm not sure what it does remind me of, but I felt something inside me pulsing and aching as I looked at my old skin.' I sit down and wait what is going to happen next.<br>' I'm empty, I have no aim, only a pain radiating from an unavailable part of my body.' I sit on the ground for countless hours. 'Am I going to starve or die of thirst? It would not matter, I have no aim, nothing to fulfill, I'm useless.' I hear the door opening and light flooding the room. I see a human walking to the source of the voice.  
>"Process completed?" The voice sounds female, but hard and rugged. 'She seems to be in command a lot. Maybe I get my purpose now.'<br>The mechanical voice answers. "Completed. The object is on shadow stage two and there are no irregularities found. The object is capable to use shadow aura and shows no sign of an earlier personality." The female sounds happy, or at least in a better mood then before. "So not the same problems like with the stupid Pikachu we caught only to see it was so stubborn and heroic we had to feed it to our other Pokemon instead." She shakes her head. "The catcher said something about an irregular power, but we will have to test it to be sure." She turns to face me. "For now just follow me. I heard you got poisoned. You were in the capsule for three days so I will show you some grace and lead you to our pantry after the check up." She leaves the room and I follow, eager to prove my worth.  
>The doctor screamed something about not to waste his time, there would be no sign of venom in my blood, so we rush to the food. "Feel free to sate your hunger and thirst. You need to be at least on your average condition for an accurate test."<br>She leaves me alone and I slowly walk to the first pile of food. Suddenly I feel something like a leak in the cage inside of me, thinking back it has be the seal around my heart, and I jump into the pile of meat and gorge it down as fast as possible. I continue this strange behavior until I hear the door opening. Whatever left the cage, it returns inside now and I feel a pressure on my stomach. I turn the food into power and lead it to my core. After doing that I turn around to see the human that brought me here leaning against the door twitching.  
>"How is it possible this Deino ate that much?" I walk over, back to my almost numb self and she straightens up and waves for me to follow. "That was the ration of a month for a Hydreigon. I hope for your own sake you are worth that much food."<br>I walk a bit behind her. 'What did happen back there?' We arrive at a hole in the ground of about ten times my height as radius.  
>"That's the ring for unevolved newcomer to test their strength. We should be able to measure your abilities here. Your opponent will be a Trubbish."<br>I feel a slight, but growing leak on the cage again and a mix of hate, fear and sorrow shakes me. I jump down and see the Trubbish gets released. While the Trubbish looks at its surroundings to find out where it is I leap forward and bite into it, digging into it and ripping off some flesh. After that I retreat and spit out the flesh and use a new kind of power I found inside to use my dragon breath. The beam makes contact and it looks to be out cold, but the strange emotions drive me to continue and I grasp at my power to feel a new emotionless aura flooding me.  
>I think I felt this way before in a similar way, I can't remember, but this attack resonates with my very being, no focus anywhere, and I extend it, engulfing the poison type.<br>I hear a raging scream from the trainer of Trubbish, but my own mistress keeps silent. A red beam makes contact with my widening aura, but it is not able to penetrate it and touch my enemy. I almost feel like a different person as I snarl at my victim. "I will be your demise, so pray to Arceus for mercy, there won't be any more in this life." The shadow aura rips off the skin of the Trubbish and at the same moment cleanse its stench and cuts its flesh until I can see bare bones.  
>I slowly decrease the radius of my aura while walking to the remaining and shattering the bones. The emotions vanish and I walk back a bit before collapsing. My trainer climbs down a ladder I did not notice at first and stops next to me, a hand resting on my back.<br>First a bit of anger seems to build up, but is soon replaced by the feeling of security. 'I won't be cast out for being too weak.'  
>I realize the other trainer screams something about me being dangerous, not able to control myself and the need to get rid of me. But the hands stays on its place and somehow I know he is so low in rank there won't be a chance he decides about my fate, but my own mistress has a high position and she sees my potential.<br>"Silence! If we have to use ten Trubbish or more to extend the power of this one Deino so be it. He is a natural in the use of shadow attacks and you are aware of the raw will to use them, not to mention to master them."  
>I almost feel embarrassed as the idiot starts crying. "But I always have to give up my Trubbish. Remember the Hydreigon scales almost two weeks ago? I did own one of the Trubbish that was killed. And I did not even get one single dollar for it." A memory of a Hydreigon skinned alive, pops up before my mind's eye. I suppress to sob. 'Where did that came from?' I shake my head, I have to ignore that matter for the moment I should focus on my mistress and my next command. The other human has stopped screaming and stares at me.<br>I feel a slight pressure on my back. "There are a few other places you have to know here." I follow my trainer and we arrive at a strange machine.  
>"This is our new, improved Snag machine. Some desperate idiots sold us the blueprints of the old one and we were able to increase the number of balls converted while lowering the energy cost and chance some so-called-hero could make it explode. Most shadow Pokemon lose most of their memories, so I think I have to give you an explanation why we need this thing. If a Pokemon gets caught the ball marks it somehow making fit impossible for normal Pokeballs to catch it, but a Snag Ball ignores the marking and is able to catch already caught Pokemon. Next I show you my quarters, but don't get too comfortable here, tomorrow we have to leave and travel to Sinnoh."<br>We get going again, but on our way to my mistress's room we only meet one other man. He looks kind of familiar, but I can't say why, I'm sure I would have remembered someone with gloves out of scales. While passing by a scent of Hydreigon hits me. Memories surface, but I try to drown them and keep up with my mistress. The pain subsides and my trainer looks back.  
>"Most Pokemon keep their name if they remember it, so do you have one?"<br>I'm about to shake my head as a strange feeling of peace and happiness overcomes me. "Drakke."  
>"Funny, I don't know why, but it seems fitting. I'm Cara."<br>She stops in front of a door and opens it. "You take the couch, the idiot that caught you used a special weakening ball which makes it easier to catch something, but it has the flaw to damage even captured Pokemon inside."  
>I jump onto the couch and start to nod off. 'I hope these annoying pieces of memory vanish or clear up over time'<p>

End of chapter 9. Hope you enjoyed and don't got lost on my twisted ways, reviews are welcome, like always.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: You should know it by now, but I will repeat myself, I do not own Pokemon. I also do not own "Shell with no soul"/"World so cold" by Three Days Grace, so let's get the chapter going already.

Chapter 10

I lie on a clearing, a feeling of security is in the air while the sun shines on my back. To my left a river flows and I stand up to take a sip. While drinking I get the feeling as if my mirror image would not exactly be synchronous to my actions.  
>"Are you ready for a little talk?" I fall onto my back.<br>'Wait a sec, did my mirror image just talk to me?' I lean back forward, but my mirror image did not move an inch. I stare at it puzzled. "So I'm just dreaming?"  
>"Yes. Want a snack while we talk?" He steps through the surface of the water and sits next to me.<br>"No, a few explanations would be enough for me."  
>He shakes his head while a dozen cans appear in front of him. "So that's something we differ a lot. I would never say no to food, even if it is surreal."<br>He opens a can with a bite and gorges down the food. "Who are you? And why should I care about what you say?"  
>"I'm your subconscious, the older self of your body. Judging by the process I would say normally if someone turns into a shadow Pokemon the older self gets sealed into the heart and slowly fades away, destroyed by his own emotions caged there with him." He shudders. "But some events in our very early days led to me closing off parts of my memory and heart, so the real process did not fully complete, leaving you with parts of your past and a link to me."<br>"And I care about you because ... ?"  
>"Two major reasons. First one, we are still one person to some point, not listening to me would be like ignoring yourself, and second, I'm a bit of a glutton, but the additional food turned into additional power, not enough to challenge Arceus, but it could give us an edge in harder fights later."<br>"I will just ignore your first point, I had only little vision into our past, but I saw you were able to suppress feelings and you're nothing else then a collection of unwanted feelings for me. And why should I not be able to use the additional power myself?"  
>"That's easy. Take a closer look to our power core. The bulge is the unnatural one, gained by my glutton."<br>I take a closer look and as he said, there is a bulge, I think it is about half the seize of my natural energy source. Strangely it touches the cage around my heart and I can't look past the limit. "I see it, and it touches the seal. You want to tell me you could block my grasp to the parts touched by the cage?"  
>"No, as long as your instincts or strong feeling don't lead you my radius of impact I can have on anything is within this cage as you called it. The bulge is pretty much halved by the cage, so a second equal seized half is inside here."<br>"That would mean you doubled your natural source?"  
>"Almost, but I think we reached a limit or something, the food you were able to convert after my glutton side returned had almost no effect. We are still able to eat a lot, but more out of joy to eat something then out of the chance to increase our power."<br>I slowly nod while I realize he has eaten all cans by now. "You have some sort of deal in mind how we handle this situation?"  
>A new can appears, but he rolls it over to me. "Eat something. You look hungry. A deal? You have already experienced that a strong enough impulse of our past allows me to take control. But I can't use your half of the bulge, I noticed that while killing the Trubbish, only my half and our natural one. I think or hope survival will allow me to get active too as I have a bit more experience. I won't work against your goals, whatever they will become, if they don't contradict my goals."<br>I copy his moves and bite the can open and slowly eat the food. It does not taste bad, but I know it won't sate me or anything so I take my time and concentrate on the taste while listening to him. "And what are your goals?"  
>"First of all survival of course, I won't allow any stupid self-sacrifice."<br>"I don't think you have to worry about that."  
>"Second I only made a few friends, but they helped and saved me, so I owe them and won't allow you to kill them."<br>"Harder to understand, but if you show me a few memories with them I should be able to avoid harming them."  
>A wave of pictures and emotions hits me. Happiness, safety, pain, a lovely taste and sorrow for losing them. I cough. "I think I got it. Did you have to use that many emotions?"<br>He keeps silent and slowly fades away.  
>I wake up. 'That clearly gives me something to think about.'<br>I look up to see my trainer staring at me. "You sure have a deep sleep. Let's go, you still need to meet my team and we should clear that before we leave Orre."  
>She raises two capsules, both have the shape of Pokeballs, but one is black with green sparkles, the other pure white. After the light fades I see in the white ball was a Gabite, lucky me my memories of a training I received in my early days by someone, I can't remember who, haven't faded. The second newcomer is a Vibrava. I take a step back as both turn around and growl at me. Somehow my glance wanders to the uncut fin of the blue dragon.<br>' Is this instinct or a trick by my older self?' As my confusion increases I feel the presence of the other Drakke again.  
>'Why do you stare at the fin and claw at the cage? My body feels strange and I'm sure it did never feel this way while I was in control.'<br>'I thought you're responsible for this, but I think if we keep staring we will get in trouble.'  
>Combining our willpower we look down to the dragons face. 'Drak, you have more experience. Is it normal that people we get introduced to stare at us with such... ?'<br>'Hate? Only if we did something terrible wrong. The cage pulls at me again, it's your problem.' I think I almost hear him snicker as he vanishes. I gulp and take a few steps back.  
>"I'm sorry if I did something wrong. I always thought there has to be a cut in your fin."<br>I admit I'm more then a little puzzled as I see the Gabite stops growling and blinks before answering, a female voice so it has to be a she. "You have no idea what you declared to me by looking that way? Wynn, stop it, you can tell he is sorry. I'm Shale."  
>I twitch because of the sudden change while the Vibrava stops growling and almost looks a bit embarrassed. She coughs before mumbling. "We got a great start, huh? Anyway, I'm Wynn as Shale already told you. Do you have a name? And why are you here?"<br>"I'm Drakke."  
>Before I can say anything else Cara steps forward. "He is a new member for our team. Don't harass him about his past, he's a shadow Pokemon, so there won't be much memory left in him."<br>The second time in less then ten minutes they change their attitude towards me. Wynn takes a few steps back while Shale moves closer and pets my back. "I think now I should be the one to say sorry. With only basic memories of your past there is no way you could know what you did. Cara, did he already show any signs for his shadow attack? And how did he end up in our team?"  
>"He killed and vaporized a Trubbish with his shadow aura. The catcher told us something about high power and potential so Eve decided it was time I a shadow too. Eve's the leader of team abyss."<br>The last words were addressed to me so I nod.  
>"You might remember him. He has a pair of gloves made out of Hydreigon scales." I feel Drak tries to gain control as anger and fear fill my body, but I succeed to suppress him even if it leads to me collapsing.<br>"Don't worry, we won't make a pair of gloves out of you." The dragoness looks down to me with a smile while the dragon-bug snickers.  
>I slowly nod and stand up again. 'Care to explain your behavior?'<br>I take a look at the cage, it is coated in cracks but fully locked, so I'm surprised to hear a faint, but seemingly raging answer.  
>' He killed our mother, the only family we ever had. I will skin him alive if I get close enough.'<br>'Control yourself. So he is the reason of this agony?'  
>I hope he snaps back, he seems to be babbling to himself. ' I tried to forget it, to force the memory out of my mind, to live on, but it haunted me a whole week every night and even as I closed of this part of my heart it flooded me every time I thought back to my training. And I'm in a relative small cage with all these memories and feelings, so it's extremely difficult to keep in control.' I notice he did talk to me. After he has finished he leaves me again.<br>My mistress clicks her finger in front of my face. "You're alright? You seemed off. I asked you if you want to meet our leader."  
>I shake my head and scream at her. "No!"<br>I cough. "Sorry, but a leftover memory is plaguing me. Please don't lead me close to him."  
>Shale walks closer to me again, she backed off as I screamed. "It's okay. It has to be something pretty strong to survive the process of turning you into a shadow."<br>I try to suppress a sob, but the constant comfort of the Gabite leads to me having trouble to hold back and a little cry escapes me.  
>The Vibrava laughs at me for this behavior. "Aww, Drakky has to cry."<br>I free myself from the treatment of Shale and fire my dragon breath at Wynn. She evades, but I follow up with a leap at her and use my ice fangs to rip off a bit of flesh. "Wow, you don't taste like bug." Before Vibrava could counter somehow Cara steps in. "You should have seen that coming, Wynn. And now both of you stop, we don't have time for this." She does use her commanding tone a lot. I just sit down and wait for the bug-like dragon to recover.  
>"And how do we get to Sinnoh? Wynn can't fly us over there, right?" I grin as the Vibrava snarls at me.<br>"I'm sure I could carry Cara, but you would get lost somewhere over the ocean."  
>Now my trainer seems a bit annoyed. "I told you two to stop. We take a ship and it should take us there in a few hours."<br>"We travel to Sinnoh right now?"  
>Cara shakes her head. "No, I think I did forget two important areas yesterday. The training grounds ..." Wynn twitches while Shale stops grinning, but Cara ignores them. "And the breeding grounds." This time both shake.<br>I'm puzzled, but before I get the chance to ask anything Cara walks out, followed by the Vibrava and Gabite. We reach an open door, I can see claw and fang markings on it, and a smell of fear hits me. "This area was build by our organization to reach the best results training a Pokemon."  
>"Does it work?"<br>Again my teammates twitch as my trainer smiles. "Why don't you try it out yourself? Here is a newcomer, don't break him!"  
>I hear a laughter. "We won't, but a test of his capabilities seems necessary." A human in a white coat steps closer. "A Deino? He looks weak, wonder how he could have survived with this weak, red spots."<br>A familiar anger fills me as Drak grasps control. "Give me your best shot, old man."  
>"As you wish." Out of nowhere a metal hand grasps me. "First we cool this hothead down."<br>With a small swing the hand throws me into a frozen lake. 'Again?'  
>'What do you mean again? And it's not that painful.'<br>'It was the first time.' I gain back control and surface.  
>"What? How did you get back up? Every cell of your body should be tortured by the ice, you should shake and cry, not grin!"<br>Wynn has closed her eyes, but I see Shale looks at me and I feel my body further heats up. 'How did you heat us up like that?'  
>'We're able to withstand the cold by using a mix of an aura and fire fangs, but I'm not responsible for the additional warmth above our natural temperature.'<br>I try to figure out why my body acts this way, but I'm clueless as I hear a faint whisper, I think it's not Drak. 'You like her.'  
>The human grins again. "So you don't care if it's too cold? Maybe a bit of running exercise will get your attention." The metal closes around my body again and I get lifted onto some strange plates.<br>Suddenly they start moving while a wall with spikes is revealed in my back. "Should I attack the wall? Or just step to the side?"  
>"Just try to stay on spot." I slowly walk forward wondering what's the use of this thing as the plates move faster.<br>"Still thinking this is easy?"  
>I yawn. "Yeah, why?"<br>"Increase speed."  
>"Why? The plates move extremely slow." As if they had heard me the plates move faster.<br>"Comfortable? Or want to stop, Deino?"  
>"It's boring. Could we skip this and get to the fun part already?" The speed further increases, but I think I hear a quiet creak under my feet.<br>'Now we reached my old training speed. Ask if could borrow the plates, they could come in handy if we want to train a bit later.'  
>"Could you lend me the plates? I'm sure if they can go faster they are a great way to train."<br>"No! Increase speed."  
>I hear a faint response, hard to hear above the now constant crunching of the plates. "Are you sure, professor? We are already at the limits! If we speed up the motor could overheat."<br>"Just do it!"  
>The plates move faster, but the sound increases and I see a bit of smoke. "Is the smoke normal? I don't think it looks good, especial combined with the noises beneath my feet."<br>The old man starts sweating, maybe he could use a few minutes on this thing himself to get in shape. "Igor, slow the machine down."  
>"Professor! The switch did break, we can't!"<br>Suddenly I hear some kind of explosion under my feet as the plates stop and I run into the lake. 'Whoever planned this room, he sure knew how to react to accidents.'  
>The professor, as the other voice called him, coughs. "Great, you broke our running trainer. Get out!"<br>I leave the room together with my snickering teammates and my mistress as I hear a faint call from the man. "Whatever happens, Cara, try to keep him alive, if he can pass his power to his descendants we would gain a great breed."  
>We walk in silence few seconds before I turn to my trainer. "What's breeding?"<br>Cara and Shale stagger while Wynn snickers and helps our trainer back up. "You don't know? I don't think this is the right time or place to fully explain. Ask Shale if you two have nothing better to do."  
>A moment of silence follows, the Gabite blushes a bit, Cara gulps and the grin of the Vibrava grows." That might not have been the best choice of words."<br>The dragoness nods. "Yeah. For starters breeding has something to do with eggs and mating. And to mate you need to find your special someone."  
>"I think you're special, so we maybe mate later?"<br>Cara seems to have recovered as she grins in a similar fashion to the bug-dragon now while the blush of Shale intensities. The Gabite starts coughing. "I'm not sure if you got the idea of special, so I think it is safer to say maybe then yes or no. Theoretical only very little are not able to breed, but you get the best results if both participants are fully evolved and strong."  
>My trainer nods and snickers. "I think that should be enough on this particular matter."<br>'Does not sound very interesting.'  
>I have to agree with Drak. 'Yeah, but I wonder why Shale blushes so hard.'<br>We continue our walk in silence and soon leave the building.  
>But as we reach the exit a young, male human with some strange device on his left arm steps into our way. "I'm going to stop you from producing any more shadow Pokemon!"<br>Some strange glass thing goes in front of his left eye. "And to get started I will rescue this poor Deino."  
>"Rescue? Is this one of your so-called-heroes?"<br>My trainer nods and I step forward. The boy releases a Gallade. I snicker. "I want to show buggy how a real dragon fights, so may I have this dance, Gally?"  
>His trainer gulps. "Don't kill him, Gallade!"<br>The Gallade does look a bit angered. "I will try not to."  
>My mistress and the two dragoness draw back. I grin and the psychic-fighting type leaps at me with a pink glowing, extending blade. 'He seems to be a beginner in fighting, poor idiot.'<br>I focus and as he hits me with his blade I let loose my dragon breath. I don't get a single scratch from his useless psychic attack, but he stumbles back and coughs. "Less impact than you thought you would have?"  
>I snicker again as his trainer slaps his forehead. "You should try something else, sorry pal."<br>As my enemy jumps forward I grasp at the additional power in the cage.  
>'Forget it, if you don't act too stupid you won't even need most of our natural source.'<br>'Why don't you want to give me a bit help?' I grasp again, but instead of the additional power I sought I feel my shadow aura enveloping me. The Gallade hits me with a now green glowing blade.  
>He coughs as he touches my defensive attack and stumbles back a bit again, but he was able to pierce it and I feel the hit.<br>'Still ineffective type of attack, but I did feel him. He is stronger then I thought.' I take my opportunity and leap at him, biting his arm and trying to rip off some flesh. He shakes me off and I roll out of the way of his revenge strike. I taste a bit of the meat before spitting it out. 'Psychic tastes good too, but the fighting type is to strong in flavor for my taste.'  
>I focus and extend my aura while tackling his chest. I feel and see my enemy twitches while receiving cuts, but he is able to shove me off and retreat to his trainer while bleeding from multiple places. He spits blood as he speaks to the boy. "I think I need to train before I can weaken this one enough for you to snag him, sorry."<br>The hero nods while shaking. "G-good plan. We will meet again, villain!"  
>'Ouch, that was way too cliché for me.'<br>He raises the capsule again, Gallade vanishes and he runs off.  
>I turn around to my mistress. "Why did he focus on me? Shale and Wynn are shadow Pokemon too, right?"<br>Both shake their heads. Cara slowly walks closer. "No, the process to turn a Pokemon into a shadow isn't as easy as you maybe think. It needs a lot of energy to produce the waves and the resulting creature is sometimes unable to control it's new power. It's a more or less unstable status and the results vary from an insane thirst for blood to the loss of will to fight. You can call yourself lucky, only one out of ten keeps more then a minimal conscious, every fifth damages itself with the new force they got."  
>I nod. 'I should be thankful to Arceus I'm in this condition.'<br>I feel the sarcastic thoughts of Drak. 'Happy, happy, happy, huh? Stop wasting our time, get going before they find a way to make us insane after all.'  
>'There is no danger anywhere in sight, how did you get out?'<br>'I don't know, but I think Gabite has something to do with it. Some strange emotions in here go haywire if you get this close to her.'  
>I decide to ignore him and follow the lead of Cara again. I confess I'm almost standing on the paws of the dragoness, but I can't feel anything strange except of a weird warmth if I'm this close, it's comfortable for me.<br>We get going and walk in silence a few minutes until I feel as if I'm scanned. I glance around and see Shale looks at me. "You don't look exhausted or hurt after your fight. Did you not feel the psychic cut and leaf blade?"  
>I have to snicker. She seems to be older then me, but pretty unaware of some basic fighting lessons. "I really did not feel the psychic blade, if I had not seen the attack I would not even now he used it against me. Never heard something about immunities?"<br>Wynn flies closer and throws me a glare. "Of course we did. Every dragon is immune to electricity and extremely weak to ice attacks. Except you freak it seems."  
>I growl. "Whoever your teacher was, he lacks some basic knowledge. A normal dragon is resistant to shocks, not immune. Immunity to high voltage is only possible for ground and a limited number of electric types. And a typical dragon is weak to ice, not extreme weak. We share this weak spot with the majority of all plants, birds and ground types."<br>I grin. 'Thanks, Drak.'  
>I hear him laugh. 'We share our body, you should know how to handle it.'<br>'And you know everything we need to know?'  
>I feel a bit of embarrassment emitting from my older self. 'Not exactly. Mother only showed me the ropes,but some things are still a riddle wrapped in an enigma for me. For example why you or our body react strange to Shale.'<br>I turn my attention back to Wynn. She growls. "And how do you explain I share a lot of my elemental advantages and weaknesses with Shale? We don't belong to the same species, but are both immune to electric attacks and almost drowned every time the professor threw us in the lake?"  
>The Gabite interrupts her. "You were not always this similar to me. As a Trapinch you were less hurt by ice attacks, but took a lot more damage from grass or water attacks."<br>Cara steps between us. "Before this escalates I should remind Wynn of her lessons again. I told you all ground-dragons are immune to shocks and have a weak spot with ice, not every dragon." She scratches her head. "But every fully evolved dragon I know shares this weakness." She falls back a bit again while quietly mumbling something, sounds like lessons or something.  
>I snicker. "So I was right, you're immunity and extreme weakness origin in your second nature, it's nothing every dragon has."<br>Shale sighs. "You did not answer why you're immune to psychic attacks."  
>"Thought it is obvious. I'm a dark type."<br>Looking back to Cara I see she has opened weird beeping device and points it into my direction.  
>'I remember a similar thing. Most of the information about our behavior are wrong or painful easy to see.'<br>"And the leaf blade?"  
>"Dragons are resistant to grass attacks, your ground type seems to even it out back to a normal effect."<br>Shale slowly shakes her head. "You know an awful lot about fighting. You're at least two years old, right? I'm almost half a year and know less then half of your tricks."  
>I blink and look at her, evading to look at her fin. 'She seems stronger then Goth or Melog. The training room seems to work, even if not as efficient as having to survive in the wild.'<br>'Poser. And the survival training has a major drawback, if you fail there is no second try.'  
>Suddenly Cara steps forward and wand waves with her hand before my head. I stop and urn to look at her. "What was the use of that?"<br>"Sorry, the Pokedex said Deinos are blind, so I wanted to check if it is true."  
>"I'm following you around for almost a day now and you really believed I could be blind? My fur does not hinder my view, how could I fight blind?"<br>I turn back forward again, but feel a sting at my tail and look around again. "Before you continue to annoy me with stupid test like if my tail could be numb, just ask me."  
>She whistles. "Nah, I'm done. Last one was to see if you have any diseases and other physical related things including your age."<br>"Like I could no just tell you. And why is all this information not collected while someone turns into a shadow?"  
>"Normally it is, but we had a system crash at your process, only the basic data got saved."She looks at her device. "And the stupid piece of rubbish is broken again. There is no way you're less then a month old while at the same time reached your maturity already. Judging by your power and knowledge the age has to be incorrect."<br>Wynn flies out of my grasp and snickers. "But his behavior towards others while not fighting fits to the young age. The thing about Gabites fin is common knowledge if you reach a certain age. Not to mention breeding."  
>I focus and hit her with my dragon breath. "I'm no whelp, stop talking about me as if I would be one. The age is correct, you would have grown faster too if you has to survive without any help, buggy." Shale turns to Cara with a puzzled look. "Should he remember that as a shadow Pokemon? And he got snatched not caught wild, his Pokeball has this strange glow."<br>Cara has a similar look on her face. "Theoretical you're right, but you saw his shadow aura, he is a shadow." She coughs. "Or at least parts of him. Drakke, you remember anything special about the process that turned you to your current state?"  
>"Only small bits. Energy waves, darkness, a mechanical voice saying error. That's all normal, right?"<br>"I think the error part is not normal. Anything besides error?"  
>I try to mentally walk back, but that part is more or less confusing as it marks the moment Draks thoughts slowly vanished while I was created. I was focused on other things as a boring voice. "Wait, I think I heard something like not enough space found and later erasing recordings of errors."<br>"That's everything?"  
>"Yeah, sorry I was distracted by my new body."<br>"It was logical the cheap computer had to lead to a devastating failure sooner or later. So you're left with a bit more memory then normal, should not hinder our team, right?"  
>We all nod.<p>

After a walk of about thirty minutes we reach a city next to a large lake or an ocean, I think it's an ocean, but some lakes are said to be very large. Gabite and Vibrava shudder.  
>Gabite is the first to talk again. "Wow, so much water, scary."<br>Wynn nods. I stare at them. "What's so dangerous about water?" A faint warning not to drink salty water comes to my mind, but except of that I don't think something in there could endanger me.  
>Cara grins. "It's less a fear of water, but a fear about the unknown if we cross it."<br>Again both nod and Shale tries to explain it to me. "We both hatched here. My kind origins in Sinnoh, but my egg was brought here before my birth and Trapinch naturally live here."  
>I look to see Vibrava twitches as she looks at the ocean again while the other dragoness moves closer to me.<br>'Please, take a step back, these emotions are hard enough to get under control, but now I start to hear voices too. I ignore them, but they sound awful promising.'  
>'Are you sure it won't look strange if I move closer just to back off if she does the same?' Instead of an answer he throws at me a bit of what he has to deal with.<br>'Move closer, tell her you like her, you will feel great, ...' I give him a bit of my strength and stay on my spot.  
>'It did not get warmer, why do I sweat?'<br>Lucky for me Cara tells us to stop staring and start moving again. I almost stagger as Drak gains control. "Don't worry, Shale, I will protect you."  
>I get my body back. 'Why did you say that?'<br>'I'm surprised myself, it just felt like a good idea.'  
>The Gabite smiles and I guess he's right. 'I thought you did not like her.'<br>I hear the mentally equivalent of a cough. 'I was thinking and I guess it's more like I get your feelings too, and you like her too much.'  
>I'm puzzled, but my trainer runs forward and Shale follows, so I feel him getting pulled back, unable to tell me any more. Or if I take a look at the damaged seal, maybe he just does not want to tell me more. To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I really want to know more.<br>Ten minutes later we are in front of a big ship, as Cara called it, waiting to get onto it. "I was able to get the captain to sail a bit faster, we should get to Snowpoint City in less then five hours. I glance to the sky. So we should get there before sunset. Cara waves at us to come closer and continues by whispering. "Some strange trainer booked the cabin next to us. He and his Emboar looked like they would cry or beat someone up so, so you should evade him."  
>Wynn snickers. "Could we not beat him up and take any useful Pokemon?"<br>"Don't underestimate him. He looked desperate to relieve his pressure and his five badges tell me he knows how to train his partner. A strange guy, he mumbled something about starting fresh after losing a friend."  
>Shale and me nod and grin. "We swear to evade the emotionally unstable trainer." Next we both snicker as we said it almost in unison.<br>I feel sorrow flooding me. 'Could you ask if he also had a Vanillish?'  
>Do you have to call it self-pity if you pity your second personality? Even his strange reactions to Shale stopped as he heard of the trainer with an Emboar. "Was a Vanillish somewhere near the trainer?"<br>My mistress looks at me puzzled for a second. "Yeah, he did own one. Why do you ask?"  
>Drak left me again, so I feel a bit tricked. I did feel his thanks and relieve as he heard of the Vanillish, but he was pulled back and I think mentioning him would be a very bad idea.<br>"Let's just say an inner voice told me about it. Drop the topic please."  
>Cara raises her hand in a mix of a defensive and annoyed manner. "Whatever."<br>We arrive on the deck and my trainer pulls a cape or something similar out of her bag. "I did some thinking while you took you slept. We should cover your spots. If someone remembers them and sees you're not with your old trainer we could draw attention."  
>I let her lay the black cape over my neck, covering large parts o my body. "And how do we explain my dress up?"<br>She coughs and turns red in embarrassment. "There will be a little contest here and you will participate."  
>"What's a contest?"<br>"To put it simple, a stupid mix of showing the looks of a Pokemon and letting it fight. They are popular in Sinnoh, so I will act as a coordinator. If you don't blame us too hard it should be sufficient as a masquerade."  
>"What are the rules for that thing?"<br>"First you show your looks and try to impress with your attacks in a unconventional way. We are allowed to use music, spotlights and minor extra equipment to help you in that effort. If the judges think you did a good job the next round will be a fight, but no killing the opponent. The guy I asked about what to do said if you beat your enemy in an individual way there is a higher chance you win, as every fight only takes three minutes and after that time the judges choose the victor."  
>"And the victor has to show a mix of use and looks while using his attacks I guess."<br>"You could describe it that way."  
>We reach our cabin and I sit onto the couch while thinking how to impress and win the show-off.<p>

After one or two minutes and a little discussion with Cara I'm almost ready. 'Hey, Drak, I could need a bit of help with my performance.'  
>'I know, I can see and hear everything you do. How the hell did you think about starting like that? We did never try to move in some sort of dance or in rhythm with the music and the other part of your act will need a high level of speed and accuracy.'<br>' I'm aware of that, but it feels fitting to our condition and if we succeed it will guaranty we win.'  
>Does he snicker? 'And what's the reason for your need to win? Want to impress someone?'<br>'It's your emotions that go haywire if I get close to Shale, not mine.'  
>'We are connected, so it's your emotions, too' 'But you still have no idea what exactly they are?'<br>'It's close to liking someone, but stronger. Grab a lexicon if you see a chance.'  
>'Anyway, you help me?'<br>'I will, but if anyone recognizes me you handle it.'  
>'Chances for that happening?'<br>' Considering my luck it's pretty high.'  
>I'm a bit worried, if I meet someone who knows my older self the cage could take some serious damage as Cara said. I take a closer look, the seal was never complete, but now there are cracks all over it, if I'm lucky it should stay shut for a week, what happens if it breaks I can't tell. I hope I don't vanish if it breaks. I snap back to reality and see my mistress waves at me. "Come on, we should see a bit of the contest or our charade won't last long."<br>She runs out and I follow close. "You got everything I need?"  
>She nods as we reach the stage. I stretch my head into her direction as I get a pair of sunglasses. I grin. 'Hope nobody recognizes me with all this.'<br>A man steps forward. "Next participation in our little contest is a Weezing. I repeat myself, the winner gets an official ribbon which counts for the Grand contest."  
>The gas thing moves onto the stage while silence fell onto us. A fog slowly raises while the poison type moves down and lies onto the ground. 'Thought Cara said it should be impressive, not lame.'<br>I silently sigh. 'Maybe it will get more interesting later.'  
>Finally the poison thing starts by exhaling purple smoke out of the fog. I blink. 'This looks like our ship!'<br>My older self snickers. 'Looks like this could be fun after all.'  
>The ship almost looks solid as it slowly drifts on the smog until suddenly four tentacle rise out of the grey sea and grasp around the object. I shudder as the purple forms sink down and the boat breaks apart. The silence stays until the Weezing raises out of the fog and nods, it could have been a bow too, I guess. The human clap and I hear a whisper behind me. "No wonder he is called puppeteer."<br>'You still think I overrated the others while planning our performance, Drak?'  
>'Maybe I underestimated them a tiny bit. The Weezing did a good job with the shapes, but if he had added a more dramatic sound it could have been better.'<br>'When did you discover your talent as contest judge?'  
>'If you don't have something useful to add just keep silent and prepare our show.'<br>I think he's right so I walk to Cara and finish the preparations.  
>The man steps forward again. "Next participant in our little contest is a Deino. I repeat myself, the winner gets an official ribbon which counts for the Grand contest."<br>I walk into the spotlight as the surrounding light slowly fades.  
>"Look! It's Drakke." I twitch as a Vanillish floats closer, followed by an Emboar and a human.<br>The pig shakes its head. "Hold back, Cream. You can't tell, the cape covers the spots and he looked average besides the red spots."  
>I feel the cage shaking, I think less then a tenth is still intact. I hear the music starting, "Shell with no soul" or "World so cold" I think both suit the instrumental tune, and sum with it to get into the right mood for what should follow.<br>After half a minute I feel ready and grasp at my power to freeze my fangs. I bite into my cape and it gets wrapped into ice and shimmers a bit while gaining weight.  
>"Ice fangs! That limits the number of Deinos it's rare to see one using it."<br>"Quiet, Cream. I heard there are hundreds of Deinos with it and if you keep screaming they will kick us out."  
>I step forward and try to bow with my frozen accessory, but the constant interruptions keep throwing me off balance. I feel Drak grasps control and turns my staggering into a low swirl. Combined with my spotlight a sprinkle of lights fill the room. 'Impressive improvisation.'<br>'Thanks.'  
>We get back up and nod to my trainer. She throws five targets over my head which I did freeze before we started. I focus and hit them with my dragon breath as they form a pyramid above me. They shatter and a thin layer of ice crystals rain down while shimmering in the light. It snows onto my back, but I withstand the cold. The spotlight fades and the normal light turns back on. I hear applause as my teammates run next to me.<br>Wynn snickers. "Nice show. Who would have guessed you're able to do this good first try."  
>I turn around and leave the stage as fast as I can. I don't know who the strange trio was, but it can't be good to meet them. As I run out of the room I overhear a bit of chatter between them again. "Come on, let's follow him!"<br>"No need to rush, Cream, I'm sure we will see him again next round. We have to get Goth now, she's the next participant and there's not much time left."  
>"Kit's right, we will see him soon enough."<br>Their voices fade away and I reach our room.  
>A few minutes later Cara enters the cabin. She grins. "I think you overdid it a bit. The judges almost praised you and most participants withdrew after your performance. Only the strange trainer with a Gothorita and a handful of others are still in. "<br>I nod.  
>" The Gothorita will be the last participant after her the judges will choose the four best shows and these will fight in a semifinal and the final for the ribbon."<br>"No longer K.O.-phase or something likewise?"  
>"They said there are not enough left so they keep it short."<br>I feel sorrow again. 'I hope we don't have to face Goth.'  
>Memories of our dream meeting come back. 'Ouch, we are on our journey again for less then a day and meet your old team.'<br>I lie down while my mistress leaves the room. "I think I should check what Gothorita is capable of."  
>Gabite lies next to me and we wait in silence.<p>

My trainer rushes back in after half an hour or so. "Come on, we have to get going. The next fight will be between you and the Weezing. The others for the semifinal are a Persian and the Gothorita, she was able to lift an Emboar and force him to fly and act like a chicken. A mix of embarrassing and funny, but it worked."  
>We rush to the stage again and see one of the judges steps forward. "We now enter the semifinals of our contest. First fight will be between the Deino and the Weezing. You can begin."<br>'Ready, Drak?'  
>'I think you should train a bit yourself.'<br>'I did already defeat a Trubbish and a Gallade, what do you mean I should train?'  
>I hear him snicker. 'You think you did all that alone? In the fight with the poison type our instincts overwhelmed you, that can be useful, but it can also get you into a lot of problems so don't turn of your head while fighting. And your second fight against the Gallade was easy, the psychic type was a weakling.'<br>Thinking about it I have to admit he's right. 'So you won't help me?'  
>'I will give you a hint about what to do, but I will only try to gain control if you're about to lose. You should find your own way to fight.'<br>'Don't you think we have a similar way of handling an enemy?'  
>'We share our body, not our personality, so you maybe have a different style. My own one changed over time, mostly because I had to harden and adept to my environment to survive. And I had a slight problem with contacts, but I think we don't share that trait.'<br>I snap back and see the Weezing throws a sludge bomb at me. A memory seems to surface, but Drak suppresses it and I focus on the projectile and use my ice fangs to freeze it before headbutting it back. My counter makes contact and the poison type shakes. I try to use the distraction t run into his direction and fire my dragon breath, but my enemy drops onto the ground and creates a barrier of smoke while evading my attack.  
>"Want to show me your ship-trick again?" I'm unsure how to react, but a taunt felt like the right thing.<br>"You heard him, Cream? That was not Drakkes voice, it is similar, but it does not sound saturate with his annoying confidence because he thought no captured Pokemon could hurt him."  
>"And he keeps a lower profile while running and attacking. Sorry to disappoint you, Cream, but we lost him."<br>I turn my head a bit and take a step back. I see the Vanillish and the other again, this time with a Gothorita. The psychic type seems to relax as she watches me while the Emboar, the ice type and the human look down in, I think it is disappointment. Turning back to my opponent I notice a purple cloud wobbling into my direction while the smoke barrier seems still intact. I don't think the cloud looks healthy so I jump over it.  
>Just to get hit by a barrage of sludge bombs. I flinch and try to decrease my contact surface by lower onto the ground more, increasing the place covered by my cape. I feel my power weakening, but I stay awake and wait for my chance to attack.<br>The barrage subsides and I jump back up and use my dragon breath in the direction of the mud balls. I hear my beam hitting something and run into the direction of the smoke as I see my opponent is thrown out of it by the impact.  
>Getting close I smell the Weezing, I wonder how I could have not noticed the stench before. Reaching it I use my fire fangs and ignite the strange gas leaving the poison type.<br>Next moment I lie on the ground and feel as if my whole skin burns. A glance at my scales and cape tells me my feeling was not totally wrong, I'm covered in a layer of smoke and my scales turned red on some places. A glance to the leftovers of my enemy and I know I did win, there is not much left of him.  
>I slowly stand up and the judge steps forward. "Victor is the Deino."<br>I step to my teammates. Wynn snickers. "Your cape is a mess by now, you notice that?"  
>I wish I could bite her for that, but I'm exhausted and have to agree with her on that point. My cape still covers my spots and parts of my body, but it stinks, is almost ripped to shreds on some spots, covered in mud on others, somehow still frozen near my neck and one edge seems to parch a bit. I nod. "I know, but it has to hold together until I at least reached our cabin."<br>We leave while the other semifinal fight starts, Gothorita against a Persian. Cara told me I have half an hour to recover before the final starts.  
>As we enter the room I drop the cape and jump on the couch, preparing to take a healing nap, but Shale pushes me off. She grins. "Did you really think you walk into the next battle fully recovered just by taking a nap?"<br>Cara takes a strange can out of her bag. "Try to be honest. How bad are your injuries?"  
>"I was in a worse shape before. Just let me take my nap and I beat whoever faces me in the final round."<br>My trainer shakes her head while the dragoness sighs. "Liar. Wounds in this intensity leave scars and you don't have any. I will just give you an antidote and a medium potion."  
>She puts the can onto the ground and reaches into the bag again. I walk over and, remembering my dream, open the can with one bite before drinking the interior. "See? I drank your strange antidote. Just let me sleep I really don't need the other thing."<br>Cara shrugs. "I can't force you, but maybe you will be more cooperative after your nap."  
>I jump back onto the couch and notice Shale already lies there, but she does not seems to mind as I lie next to her and nod off.<p>

Cara wakes me up half an twenty minutes later as she tells me. I glance down and think I'm ready for the last round. My trainer shakes her head. "How did you heal so fast? Has to have something to do with your gluttony and a faster metabolism or something like that. Anyway I think you were right, a good nap seems to be enough to cure you from most wounds."  
>I notice she puts back the can with the potion back into her bag. "You're last opponent will be the Gothorita. She seems to be pretty strong with her psychic powers, but you should not worry too much about it as a dark type."<br>I grin. "It should be a piece of cake to beat her."  
>I jump onto my feet while I hear a groan from Drak. 'I will let you fight, but expect me to hold you back if it gets too painful.'<br>'For me or for her?'  
>'Either.'<br>I walk to my cape and slip into it.  
>"Wait, Drakke. You should leave the cape behind. It is a mess and smells that way too. And it looks like there is poison and ice dripping out of it." I turn my head around and blink at Shale.<br>"I need it to cover my spots, besides it won't hinder me."  
>Wynn flies in front of me. "Shale's right. To ignore your weakness in a show to act strong is one thing. To continue it in a battle is plain stupid and would lead to you losing."<br>Cara ends the discussion by just ripping my cape off. "Just tell everyone we painted them this way, I don't allow you to weaken yourself for the benefit of a little mask. Brr, this is really cold."  
>"But what happens if someone recognizes me?"<br>Cara slows down a bit while Shale nods. "Yeah, I heard a Vanillish screaming Drakkes name. Even if he does not remember his old team it's hard to forget his mix of charm and red spots, right?"  
>I twitch as my trainer laughs. "And he's an insatiable glutton. Yeah, he's hard to forget, but I take the risk, you have to act as if you don't remember her."<br>She chuckles. "It's very likely you do not anyway." We walk out and reach the stage in silence.  
>The Vanillish floats up and down while grinning. "See the spots? That has to be Drakke."<br>My opponent has also noticed me and shakes while messaging her shoulder. "It's not Drakke. The Deino has noticed you, but Drakke would have walked over by now. Besides the spots are in a slightly lighter color if you look closer, it's more fire then blood"  
>One of the three judges steps forward. "This is the final for our contest. The winner gets the sea ribbon. Get into position"<br>We slowly walk to the opposite sides of our battle field. "You can start."  
>The psychic type grins. "No snarling, red-spots? That's the proof you're not Drakke."<br>As soon as she said red-spots I feel the restraint of Drak shaking and we leap forward. She tries to evade by taking a step to the left, but we follow with our dragon breath and jump onto her. I feel my side of our control shaking and he takes full control. I feel our body snarling. "Did you miss me, Goth?"  
>She shakes, but I get a hang on our power and body again and hinder him at grasping more power. 'How can you stop me? I wanted to use an attack based on emotions, something inside this cage.'<br>He has cooled down a bit. 'The seal was never shut, as you already mentioned and that results in it slowly breaking apart, you gain more influence outside, I get more inside.'  
>'Wait a sec, I did blow you cover a few seconds ago, right?'<br>I mentally gulp. 'Indeed. We can't kill her to undo that, right? You did not talk that loud.'  
>'No, I don't like her, but she is a part of my old team, so no. But keeping the pressure up and forcing her to tell nobody should be enough. I won't allow more.'<br>We snap back and use more pressure as I gain control again. "You won't tell anyone Drakkes somewhere in me, got me?" I bite into the shoulder she rubbed previously and rip off some flesh.  
>She shakes again. "Y-yeah, got you. I got no idea why Drakke would leave us, Cream took that especially hard, but I won't question a dark type standing on my chest."<br>I see she's tapping on the floor. The judge steps forward. "Gothorita gives up. Winner is the Deino."  
>He raises a blue ribbon with white waves as pattern and sticks it to my fur. "You're sure this will stay on me?"<br>"Just bow and walk off stage. If it stays on you for as long as you are on stage it's okay."  
>I nod and leave, hoping Drakkes old mates don't try to stop and speak with me.<br>"You gave up fast, Goth. Is the Deino Drakke?"  
>I slow down. 'Let's hear if I could convince her.'<br>"No." I grin, but stop as she continues. "And yes. It's Drakkes body and his mind is somewhere in there too, but there is a second personality in him that's not Drakke and I'm not sure who is in charge."  
>'So much for convincing her to shut up.' I speed up again and run to our cabin.<br>A minute later Cara, Shale and Wynn walk in. I sit down.  
>"So, what is our next plan?"<br>Vibrava flies up. "You were right. Someone did recognize you, the trainer of the Gothorita."  
>My mistress nods. "The same guy that babbled something about having lost a friend. Lucky for us we will arrive in Snowpoint City soon ,so you don't have to worry to meet him again, we will wait until he has left the ship and prepare for our next steps until then."<br>We get interrupted by a crazy guy dressed in black cloths storming into our cabin. He releases a Weezing and throws a net in my direction. "Your dragon will be a great addition to my team, so I will lend him for a while. Smokescreen, Weezing!"  
>I'm not sure what to say. This situation is weird, embarrassing and hilarious, there is no way this loser gets close to catching me, leave alone controlling me. I grasp at the fragments of the seal and wrap my shadow aura around my body while jumping into the direction of the smoke. The net makes contact with my aura and falls apart as I exit the cloud. "Wait, where's my net?"<br>I use my ice fangs to stop the poison type and hit the frozen object with my dragon breath, catapulting it first into the unskilled thief and then both out of our room into the closed door on the opposite side where my victim shatters and pierces the human with venomous shards.  
>My body feels alien to me as the seal collapses and my chest starts glowing. I collect the leftovers of the seal and slowly add it to my power source which shakes, but I force the pieces in. Snapping back into reality I feel as if I'm taller then I used to be. I look to my left and see the head of a Zweilous staring at me.<br>"Evolving feels strange." Draks voice, so my second personality got his own head.  
>My thoughts stagger. I look at my body and see I turned into a Zweilous. I slowly nod. "Yeah, and our shadow state seems gone, I was only able to collect a few pieces of the cage."<br>We turn to face Shale and Wynn looking at both of my heads while Cara has her eyes closed and is still coughing. 'Human are pretty weak to almost anything you throw at them.'  
>The bug-dragon walks closer. "I heard Deino get a second head if they evolve, but really seeing someone growing a new head looks strange."<br>Cara recovers from the smoke and walks closer while grinning. "The process that turned you into a shadow had flaws, so it's no wonder it was more unstable then normal and because of that lasted only a short while. But you kept your uniqueness. The scales on your chest look a lot more impressive in this red color instead of the normal purple."  
>I snicker. "Red-spots has evolved to red-scales."<br>Drak snarls. "Don't you dare to ever call me that."  
>I stop and Cara turns serious again. "Don't worry. But how should I call you? Together you're Drakke, but if I only want to talk to one head it gets confusing."<br>Drak nods. "I take the first part of our name, Drak, he's Ke and there won't be too much confusion."  
>I'm puzzled, he did come up with that rather fast, but it sounds logical he gets the larger chunk, he's the older one after all. I nod. "Sounds good to me."<br>We grin as the others slowly nod. "You said something like we should wait until our old trainer leaves and after him go too?"  
>Cara nods. "Yeah, I think I change my clothes, it's said to be pretty cold in Snowpoint, and after that we should get going."<br>'Change cloths?' I'm confused as the human drops her fur and changes into a thicker set. I hear Drak mentally snicker. 'I guess you can still hear me that way?'  
>'Yes. You're really comfortable with Ke? It's pretty short.'<br>'I'm no glutton, I don't need a large name. How do we handle the walking?'  
>I move our right frontleg forward and he moves it back. He sends me a feeling of being puzzled. 'We have equal control. You do the walking for the moment, if you have something that distracts you I take the duty.'<br>The others have already left the room, so I run after them, reaching them as they leave the ship.  
>Shale shakes. "It's awful cold here. Why did we get here?"<br>Cara slowly walks forward while also shaking. "It's the only port in Sinnoh. Don't worry it will get warmer as we walk towards the south." I don't mind the cold. It's annoying, but I got through worse as Drak reminds me with the memory of a specific lake he almost drowned in.  
>But he seems to have something in mind as he tells me to walk closer to the Gabite. He grins at me as I move close enough for her to lean against my side. I feel my body heating up and my mood increasing. Drak and me are not close enough to feel every emotion of each other, but I'm able to sense he does feel better too. He quietly snickers as I lean against Shale too, helping her with the biting cold.<br>I see she stops shaking. "Feeling better now?"  
>She nods and we see Cara has decided what to do next. "It's no use to blindly walk into the south, we stop at the Pokecenter for this night while I finish planning our route. I had to see and feel this weather myself before I could judge how fast we can travel."<br>Wynn flies up and down while slowly turning blue. "Just let us get going. Drakke showed us he can resist cold and." She snickers, but gets interrupted by her own chattering of teeth. "Shale seems to have found a way to handle the weather too, but I will freeze to death if we stay out here."  
>Cara nods and walks into town while my dragoness blushes as she realizes how close she stands to me, still she stays in place as we get going.<br>'Did I just think my dragoness?' Drak keeps silent and we reach the building, first to storm in is the Vibrava, after her Cara enters and Shale and me walk in last.  
>As I walk in I see Wynn has pressed herself against some random fire type, a Camerupt if I'm not mistaking, while constantly mumbling. "It's nothing personal, I just desperately need some heat, sorry."<br>The fire type is just standing still with a puzzled look on his face.  
>As soon as she lost her bluish color she thanks the Pokemon and flies to us while we are waiting for the nurse to finish whatever she is tipping in her machine.<br>She turns to us. "What can I do for you?"  
>Before Cara could say anything Drak snickers. "A snack would be great."<br>My mistress coughs. "A normal checkup for my team and after that some food would be great."

Half an hour later my checkup is done and the nurse gives us a few cans of food. We share the same stomach and a large part of our grown energy source, but that does not hinder Drak to steal some of my food.  
>'Why do you grab my cans? It ends in our stomach anyway.'<br>'But I enjoy eating it, you do not, so I take the larger part.'  
>'You enjoy it? You gorge it down! I'm not even sure if you are aware what we are eating.'<br>'I did not eat every creature that did end up in this cans, but I taste large amounts of normal typed meat and a few psychic and a for me unknown type.'  
>I admit I'm impressed. I slowly chew on the meal and I'm only able to taste the normal type.<br>After our meal Cara takes a room in the Pokecenter. I lie next to Shale and slowly nod off.  
>'Today a lot happened, right, Drak?'<br>'Yeah, but most of it was nice, Ke.'  
>We fall asleep, the way out of this frozen heel could get difficult for Cara and my teammates.<p>

End of chapter 10. I know I said my average chapter would be shorter after chapter 8, but I think the 10. chapter has to be a bit larger. Hope you enjoyed and review are welcome.


	11. Chapter 11

Blood Pulse Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, etc. You know the drill.

Ice covers my body, but I can't reject it, I'm unable to move. I notice a strange voice, but I don't hear it, it's more like a memory of something that did not happen yet. "Embrace your death, accept your destiny, or perish."  
>I feel my bones drowning and see no way to flee and escape my death. The cold keeps getting worse I feel my essence freezing solid in a white shell. The arctic temperature is too much for me to withstand, my power feels like it gets drained and I fall onto the ground, shaking.<br>As the last drops of my life remain I feel a new force filling the crystallized shell of my energy. I thirst for this new source, but at the same I feel my soul rejecting it.  
>"As long you do not recognize this as your own, you won't be able to use it." I focus and snap at my new frozen core, but I'm unable to control it and my demise seems to come closer again. Desperately I throw myself against it, but it shatters as I touch it, all of the energy leaving me. I feel death's grasp closing around my body and my vision turns blank.<br>"What do you mean, he is too dangerous for us to handle?"  
>I try to shake off the stunning fear of dieing and open my eyes. Cara is standing in front of a screen, containing the face of the leader of her, our? , I'm not sure on that part, organization, screaming at him.<br>"You know exactly what I mean. He broke our machines and was able to free himself off the shadow state, he seems uncontrollable." A distant desire to break the screen and eat his heart awakens in me, how could he speak this calm? "On the bright side, your Vibrava did arrive here unharmed and I'm sure you can call yourself lucky, you're next destination will be somewhere more suitable for your team."  
>Cara lowers her shoulders. "And I guess I should leave Drakke here? I'm sure the report of his strength and possible ability to pass it on has reached you already, but you want to let this chance slip away?"<br>"As I told you already, we are willing to take risks if it results in better results, but his temper outweighs any chances we could get by his genes and I won't allow anything inside our base that could break most of our equipment out of boredom."  
>I'm about to jump onto my feet and attack him, but a claw on my back and wings carefully pushes me down again. I look down and blink as I see Shale lying under me, blushing a bit and whispering to me calmly. "Shh, no use attacking the monitor. Calm down. I'm sure we can figure something out."<br>I glance to Drak and see he is still asleep. "And what are our options? Leave your great organization?" I try to suppress sounding too sarcastic, but it does not seem to work. "Let's face it, if he says I'm out, our ways part now."  
>She coughs. "You're awful negative this morning, but I have to admit, you're right. But maybe we meet again."<br>I slowly nod, eyes back on the now pitch-black screen. "Maybe."  
>Cara turns around and glares at me. "You know it's called bad behavior to eavesdrop? How much did you hear?"<br>I roll off the coach and Shale and straighten up. "Behavior is something you can only learn if you meet a sufficient number of people who don't want to slay you. I guess only the last part. About me having to leave for being to dangerous. Anything you want to tell me before I get going?"  
>She gulps, turning pale and taking a step back. "I can't tell you how much I disagree with Eve's decision, but he's our leader so there is nothing I can do to change his orders for now." She continues speaking under her breath. "Maybe later, if I use a bit of my charming personality."<br>I have to snicker, I'm unable to imagine her anywhere near being seductive, on the other hand she's human, so how could I judge on that matter? Her figure is close to that of a Gardevoir, no protective scales to protect anything, no claws to catch and fillet prey.  
>My trainer blinks at me. "At least you did not lose your sense of humor yet. Anyway, is there anything I could do to help you? It feels wrong to snatch you from your previous trainer just to drive you away less then a week later. Maybe I could try to find him for you."<br>I shake my head. "No! Every time I join a team I part ways with it in less then a week. Get me a nice breakfast and we are even."  
>She leaves the room and I turn to Shale. She looks at me irritated. "You're sure there is nothing we could do for you?"<br>I give lick her on her nose, my instincts are taking over a bit, again. "Don't worry, if you're that uncomfortable with me leaving destiny will lead us together again, sooner or later."  
>I hear a dry laughter and turn my head to see Drak is awake. "So we are parting ways?"<br>I nod. "Yeah, what gave you the hint?"  
>"The clear goodbye ceremony of course. And I wouldn't bet on destiny if I were you, destinies ways seem to be twisted, especially in our case."<br>I briefly lean against Shale. "We know. I ordered a bit of food, a more suitable goodbye for you I guess."  
>He grins. "Free food before we start the next episode of our journey. You get the hang on important things, brother."<br>Brother? I glare at him for a second, but he seems to mean it serious. "Don't think you get even one more bite for being so friendly."  
>He chuckles. "It was worth a try. But I really think you're the closest thing I have to family. You want a moment of privacy with Shale? I can't get rid of the feeling I interrupted you by something."<br>I shake my head and see Shale does the same, even though she blushes a bit. "Not really, I think we finished our saying goodbye by the time you woke up."  
>By the time I finished my sentence Cara opens the door accompanied by a Camerupt, it could be the same I saw as we entered the Pokecenter, carrying a bunch of dishes. Drak grins. "A fire Pokemon bringing me food? Great idea, it keeps warm this way."<br>Our mistress, or is it ex-mistress by now?, sets down the plates and Drak grasps control over our body and jumps to the closest one, devouring it as fast as possible. I nod at Cara. "I guess we're even. We will leave as soon as Drak finishes gorging down the food."  
>"Does he know what he is eating if he does not take time to chew on it?"<br>"As funny as it may sound, he has a better sense of what he is eating then I do while still eating ten times his weight."  
>"I wish I had time to test that, but we should get going. Take your time, the room is paid for the rest of the morning. Come on, Shale."<br>The dragoness briefly strokes my back before leaving behind Cara. "I hope we meet again, Ke."

By the time the nurse looks into the room and tells us we have to leave we finished our breakfast, twenty plates of mixed meat. We leave the Pokecenter, Drak wrapping a warm aura around our body as hail starts hitting us. "I already know we will never walk back here without an extremely good reason."  
>I grin, but twitch as a distant memory of my dream surfaces. "You slept well tonight?"<br>"Yeah, why the strange question? I finally got rid of my nightmares after we got turned into a shadow, short surfacing pieces excluded."  
>We slowly leave the city as I flap with our new wings to test them. "Just curios, brother."<br>"I don't think we will be able to fly with those."  
>We enter a forest while the hail increases. I feel something like a presence around me, but every time I think I could focus on it, it seems to vanish.<br>The ice punch came out of nowhere for me and same goes for Drak, I'm sure he would have done something to evade the hit if he got the chance. We stumble backwards and try to find the attacker in the steadily increasing blizzard.  
>Seconds later our left side gets targeted by fury wipes. I turn around and see a Sneasel, small feather and an, at least out of my perspective, rather hungry impression in it's eyes. Drak hits the dark-ice type with a headbutt and while it stumbles back I quickly glance at it again. "I thought your species only eats eggs and smaller things."<br>Our enemy counters with a single scratch and throws me a glare. I think it has to be female, it's kind of hard for me to identify on snarling voice and the howling blizzard surrounding us. "Are you really so stupid? Take a look around! Noticed the weather and the lack of others? You have to take what you can get if you don't want to starve! And you seem edible, so do me a favor and die."  
>She steps back and I can't see her anymore. I have to grin a bit, despite our low chance to survive this. "That's like fighting blindfolded! And some stupid idiots believe we fought like this until we evolved? I'm clueless how we should have survived that time."<br>Drak snickers. "Is this not a bit too dark if you mind our reduced vision?"  
>An ice beam makes contact with our back and wings and I feel a layer of ice appearing on us. I try to shake it off, but fail and feel our skin heating up in an attempt of Drak to melt it away. He succeeds at the cost of wasting large amounts of energy. I try to focus on any sign of the Sneasel and succeed just in time to see her using slash, leaving me with an half-inch deep wound on my throat. I cough blood into the snow. Turning my head to Drak I notice his struggle to keep our temperature up is beginning to take it's toll, he looks exhausted and unable to fight much longer. I take a step forward, but stagger and we fall down.<br>The dark-ice type appears in front of me and hits my throat with a cold, glowing claw, covering it in a cold layer. I hear her snicker while I try to catch my breath. "Give up. We all see you're as good as dead."  
>I spit my blood at her, but she evades by taking a step back. I try to follow her movement, but notice the ice did not melt and hinders me. 'Wait, is it only my imagination or does it get colder?' I slowly turn my head, my adrenalin running low, leading to me feeling the cracking ice in and on my wound, widening it and piercing in my flesh. Draks head is lying on our back, his eyes are closed, he seems to be out cold. My remaining energy lowers as fast as my warmth does. I try to withstand, but come to realize my fight is in vain as the hail covers me, the increasing weight almost feels like it is crushing me. The ice continues to cover me and I feel my body getting buried, agony resonating in every fiber of it, my vision turns white. I struggle to keep my resistance up. A faint memory comes to my mind, I see a faint barrier between my energy and a strange energy surrounding me. I try to grasp the surrounding force and combine it with my power, but as I draw it closer the two seems to corrupt each other, leaving me with less essence then before while a strong ache runs through me.<br>"You are still fleeing. Embrace your death." I think I remember this voice, but I can't tell where I heard it before. I can't take it anymore and surrender to the pain, give in to my end, accept my demise and feel the last drops of my life freezing into a strange crystal shape with a dark, foggy point in it's center. I wait for death's grasp, but instead of blacking out and losing conscious I slowly regain feeling of my body, the pain starts to return, but strangely only on my cuts and bruises, the ice covering my body does not hurt, it gives me a feeling of security, like an armor, in a strange contrast to it previous being painful and hindering, like a thorny chain. I look at my crystallized life force and see multiple layers of a new power surrounding it, carefully touching it I recognize the energy previously surrounding me. I slowly open my eyes and stand up. I twitch as I notice an unfamiliar weight on me. I glance at my body and notice a scale-like ice covering it.  
>Looking forward again I see the Sneasel glaring at me while tapping her foot. "Die already! You're completely frozen over, stop being stubborn and let me eat you."<br>I try to grasp my power and use dragon breath, but I'm unable to cling to the energy. I gulp and carefully step forward, attempting to avoid pushing the ice in my gaping wounds, but after a few steps I come to realize the frozen scales do not hinder my movement, their overlapping structure providing me with enough mobility to fake a staggering step and fall down. As she comes closer I jump onto my feet and hit her with headbutt. I use her dizzy state, my ice-covering let's me almost totally ignore the collision of our heads, and bite into her right claw. With her left claw the Sneasel tries to slash me and loose my grip, but she slips on my armor and I increase my efforts and feel my teeth piercing her skin. I start to chew on her hand while she tries to retreat. "Let me go!"  
>"Bet you would like me to. Forget it!" I guess I sound a bit muffled with the claw in my mouth, but she seems to get what I told her. Besides I'm a bit frustrated, I can't decide if I like her taste or not, it's bittersweet while a bit of my own blood, bitter like her blood, but with an additional sour note, spices it. I lower my head a bit, suddenly raise it, lifting my opponent, and bring it back down, smashing her into the ground, while keeping her claw trapped. My power starts fading again, I'm not fully adapted to this weird, new trait, yet. I step forward, release her hand and snap into her throat, feeling a rush of blood as it fills her lungs and she gags, unable to push me away and somehow close her wound. I watch her twitching, ignoring her now pleading eyes and take a step back.<br>By the time she stops moving I walk closer and take a bite of the fast cooling meat. I don't want to waste fresh food and start feasting on her while the second layer of scales on my body melt. I focus on my energy and notice most of the layers around my own still crystallized core did melt while Draks energy and our shared power are slowly regenerating. I glance around and notice the blizzard ended, only a weak snowfall remains. 'Time to get back on track.' I shake my head, sprinkling the snow crimson-red, and decide the mountain, seemingly half a day of straight walking away, looks sufficient as a place to rest and plan my next steps, both literally and figurative.  
>I take a few steps forward and look back, noticing a red line. I check my body for any open wounds, but all cuts seem closed, the blood dripping off together with the molten snow, creating the track behind me. I'm a bit stunned by my sudden, complete physical recovering, I guess it has to be connected somehow to the ice, as I notice less of it on the places I was wounded before then on my unscarred skin. 'Ignore that for now, I should have enough time to spare after I found a place to rest tonight and checked Drak.'<br>It's almost nightfall as I arrive at the mountain, I underestimated the distance a bit and had to make it in time, and find an, at least for my preferences, suitable cave. The reason I choose exactly this cave can be summed up pretty easily, I smell water as I enter it. I walk deeper into it, letting my nose guide me as the light gets dimmer until I can't see anything farther away then my tail.  
>I continue on until I step into water, at least I hope it is water. I sniff at the liquid, it smells like water. Carefully I take a sip. It also tastes like water, so I sink into it.<br>"Want to drown me? Wake me up next time before jumping into a lake."  
>I snicker, Drak is awake after all, one thing less I need to worry about. "At least it made you Snorlax wake up! You slept half the day."<br>"Felt lonely?"  
>I twitch. "Yeah, I guess you could call it like that."<br>We remain silent for a moment. I'm the first to get up again, literally as I still have control over our body. "Let's find a nice place to take a nap. Today was pretty harsh."  
>Drak nods and we get going again. After I found water and Drak seems to be again I'm able to focus on our surroundings and find a track of scents in the dark, most likely a human way by the smell of it. I walk backwards until we meet a wall and sink down next to it.<br>"It should be dark enough for us not to be found by any human passerby."  
>"Yeah, we should discuss our next plans tomorrow. I need a nap, the weather did almost kill me and I still need to recover."<p>

End of chapter 11. Here you have it, a nice new chapter, with more blood then necessary, but I have to justify it being rated M. Joking, anyway I hope you enjoyed it, review if you like, I would love to get a few comments on how to improve or how the story is going so far. I did not mention it for a while, but thanks for every comment I got until now (,but I would be even more thankful if you only use words I can find in a standard dictionary, had slightly problems to understand "dislecsyc tendencys", no offense).


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of great value, especially not Pokemon. Happy?

"You did not believe you could use my power without paying a price, did you?"  
>I sniff, unable to see the owner of the cold, growling voice in the blizzard. "Who are you? What do you want?"<br>I hear an emotionless laughter. "My identity should be your last concern, whelp." The voice almost seems to spit while calling me whelp. "And what I want? I gave you access to a piece of my godly power, give me the core of your energy in exchange."  
>I snarl. "You wish! Forget it!"<br>"The pawn declines to sacrifice itself for the protection of the king? Let's see if that changes if I take back my power."  
>I shortly glance at a dragon-like shape covered in ice before my core melts and the frozen energy leaves me, and I start shaking. "I-I'm n-no p-pawn, i-icicle."<br>"We will see about that."  
>By the time the final bits of my energy return to normal I feel my shadow power bursts free and fills me, despite the resistance of my body against it. The other dragon laughs at me. "Again you try to grasp forces beyond your reach, whelp. Tell me, where did you steal this? Which insane creature did you trick?"<br>My body keeps rejecting my old power and I feel my red scales turning sore, dripping blood onto the snow at my feet. I groan, it feels like my skin is dragged off and a fire burns in my bare, pulsing flesh. "This power … is mine. Leave me alone!" I cough, I don't care who or what it is, I just desperately need some time to recover.  
>"Really? It looks like it was yours. But you don't seems to listen, so I will leave you with your pain. I will take my payment from your corpse."<br>The figure vanishes and I try to push the shadow energy back to my core. I struggle and fail. 'This was a part of me. Why is it not now?'  
>The pain increases and with it I feel my despair growing for not seeing any solution. 'There is no way to get out of this mess. How did I end up here anyway?' I notice the agony decreases as frustration and anger flood through me. I glance down, the blood did not lower and I feel a dull, pulsing pain. 'It's only covered, I'm still not one with my shadow.'<br>I carefully approach it and feel a wave of rage hitting me. I take a step back, I expected anger, but blind, feral one, not concentrated hatred for any weak point I fail to suppress. I grit my teeth, it feels like every wound I got in the last week opens and aches again.  
>I slowly move closer and grab the energy. 'You can't part body and mind and expect both to stay intact.' I gulp as the veil of anger in my mind starts to clear and the pain intensifies again . 'This will hurt a lot.' I drag the energy to my body and slowly lose conscious as spikes of pain erupt from it.<p>

"Wake up! How did you manage to damage our body this disastrous in less then one night?"  
>I slowly wake up and raise my head to look at Drak, but instantly regret it as even the tiniest motion hurts. He looks at me with a mix of anger and concern. "Ouch. What do you mean, how did I manage to damage our body disastrous in one night? I slept."<br>I gulp and notice the taste of our blood, way fresher then it should be. 'It was only one of my stupid, weird dreams, right?'  
>"So you got no idea why we woke up drenched in our own blood and sore to the bones?"<br>I carefully shake my head, trying to avoid any major motions. "Maybe our body likes to train while we sleep?"  
>I see the glimpse of a smile, but it quickly vanishes as he grits his teeth in pain. "I'm pretty sure you know something, or are at least aware of a different reason. But we have not time to spare guessing who or what hit us like that."<br>We stand up and groan in unison. Drak is right, we have to get going, even if every muscle aches as I step forward. I glance around, but the cave did not lighten up. 'Is that molten snow?' I take as second step, the blood really seems to be thinner than normal, leaving me puzzled. 'There are no ice-dragons, right? At least as far as I know.'  
>Half an hour later I have to confess, I'm lost. And more then slightly confused. I feel weaker then I think I should be and even as I follow a track of human scents I can't get rid of the feeling I move further away from the entrance of this cave.<br>"How did you end up in here, dragon?"  
>I sniff and smell a human nearby while Drak snarls at the general direction of the voice. "Who and where are you?"<br>I hear the human, judging by voice and scent most likely female, snicker. "No need to react so aggressive, friend. I'm Sam, but let's lighten this place up first."  
>I have to close my eyes and take a step back as bright light floods the cave.<br>"You seem friendly, how about we become friends?"  
>I look at my body and have to blink in confusion. Drenched in blood, covered with cuts, most of them barely healed, and standing prepared to run or attack if necessary. I turn back to her. She is slightly smaller then a Gardevoir, I don't know they seem best suited as comparison, wears a blue cape with some sort of emblem on her back, I can't see what exactly it shows at the moment, and shows me a big smile. 'I don't know what exactly she took, but it like she's off, far, far way.'<br>I shake. "Friends? Do you have any clue who or what we are?"  
>"No. But you seem like a dragon and I like dragons. So, do you want to be my partner?"<br>"Partner?" I spit at her feet. "We don't need any partner."  
>Drak nods. "Yeah, why would anyone need a weak, pathetic human as help? We are better off alone."<br>She looks disappointed for a second, but quickly cheers up again, an annoying trait. "Maybe you change your mind if you meet my partner. "  
>She pulls a Pokeball from her belt, I suppress a shudder, a smiling face is drawn on the surface, and throws it. It releases a serpent shaped, blue dragon, Dragonair. The pure dragon-type smiles at me before quickly turning to it's trainer. "Need my help to show him we're not so bad?"<br>I blink at her. "How did you know we are male?" 'Did I miss anything important? I think there has to be some trick.'  
>"Most important mark for me is the stance, yours tells me you're male, annoyed and surprised. And the little twitching shows me you have to focus not to attack me while we talk. The stench of blood around you and the fact you don't seem to care about it made it even clearer."<br>I take a moment to think about her words. 'Why did I not already notice that?' I shake and snarl at her and her trainer. "Still not interested in joining you."  
>She grins. "Already thought so."<br>The dragoness fires a dragon breath at me, but we roll out of the way and counter with the same attack. She sinks down, evades and wraps around us. "You're already sweating and coughing? You could really need some training."  
>I cough. "I just had a bad day." Drak bites into her, a dozen inch or so under her head. "And it's pretty stupid to get so close to a pair of heads eager to hurt and maybe kill and eat you."<br>She still has the stupid smile on her face. "But you won't kill me, right? Only prove your strength and let me go."  
>I hear her scales opening and see blood running down our intertwined bodies as Drak puts more pressure in his bite. She groans and her grip loosens which I use to step on her. I lick some of the sour blood from her body and grin as she shudders. "I think this should be the moment your trainer pulls you back." She looks like she is about to cry and I slowly turn to her trainer. "I think she needs a break or she could take some serious damage."<br>I grin as the Dragonair slowly nods, unable to turn without increasing her pain. The human hastily grabs the ball, almost dropping it, and retreats her Pokemon. I grin, the smiling face on the capsule almost seems ironical now.  
>After a short moment the trainer seems to have gotten back her confidence, or at least parts of it. "Everyone needs a break from time to time. You won't be so lucky with my next friend."<br>She grabs the next ball from her belt, painted with a big grin. I take a closer look at her belt, every capsule has some sort of smile painted on it. My wish to stomp her into the ground and do anything I can not to get captured gains a huge boost. 'I won't end a capsule with a smile drawn on it.'  
>I focus on my opponent and almost stagger for a second. 'Shale?' I take a closer look and relax. The fin has a cut, the stance is a lot more offensive then Shale ever looked like and the growling sounds different.<br>"Hey, you little brat! Show me some respect or you will regret it!" I grin and hear Drak answer, interrupted by short outbursts of laughter. "Sorry, but we were, worried for a second, you could, be someone else."  
>I cough and turn serious again as I spit some blood. Drak slightly nods into my direction. "Let's get started, shall we?"<br>We jump forward and try to tackle and bite him, but he rolls to the side and throws us back with a wipe. The other dragon grins. "Was that everything you got, weakling?"  
>I snarl and hear Drak does the same. "We will make you eat your words, poser."<br>He runs into our direction and slashes at us, but we duck and hit him with a duo-dragon breath, throwing him multiple feet backwards. He coughs, but keeps grinning. 'Does she feed them something special or why do they never recognize a stronger opponent until they are half-dead?'  
>The idiot even laughs. "Nice try. But give up, Sane did a pretty good job exhausting you, there can't be much left."<br>I grin as I hear his trainer. "Sorry, but he did already look that way before we started the fight."  
>While his laughter stops Drak starts laughing. "Yeah. And , Sane was her name?, did look worse then we do after a few minutes."<br>"Really? Maybe I did underestimated you, a tiny bit."  
>He dashes forward while we jump at him. Logically we collide midway, my head hits his, Drak bites into his right shoulder and his claw, glowing in a bluish-purple light, cuts into our chest. Carried by the momentum we tackle and pin him to the ground while I cough, in our weakened state the dragon claw had a greater effect then it should have had.<br>The Gabite groans. "You give up already? If you keep that up it won't end well."  
>Drak manages to penetrate his scales and rip off some flesh before turning to the ground-dragon with a crimson smile. "There is no way you could come close to killing us. Besides you should be the one giving up by now."<br>I bite into the left shoulder, increasing force until I can taste his life spilling out into my mouth. "Reminds me of better times. Bittersweet, despite your sour blood, weakling." I snicker before wrapping my teeth around his arm and using dragon breath. I hear it cracking inside the arm, our enemy screams in and stops struggling. "A nice, little reminder of us."  
>We step back and off him and he stands up, coughing, wounded arm hanging down limp.<br>The self-claimed dragon-specialist draws my victim back into his capsule. 'Why is she grinning?' She grabs the next ball. "You will make a great addition to my team after we got your temper under control. Time for my best and strongest friend!" I glance at the cover of the capsule. 'A smiling worm with wings? The marks are getting ridiculous!' Our last enemy gets released and I guess this time the mark wasn't so far off. My confidence sinks as a large, blue dragon with orange wings appears and shows its teeth, you could call it a smile, but the growling exposure of so many sharp objects is nothing you could call friendly if you're on the opposite side of it.  
>I hear Drak chuckle nervously. "I guess that's a bit more of a challenge then our typical opponent."<br>We take a step back and I cough. "You could be right this time."  
>The winged dragon uncomfortably shifts backwards. "Are you sure you want to use me? It looks a bit unfair. I'm sure Sane could beat him or Fin."<br>Her trainer nods. "You're my last hope, he did beat Sane and Fin."  
>The dragon turn to us."Really? Looks like he took some heavy damage while fighting. I will make this quick and as painless as possible."<br>I can't suppress a grin, if she thinks we are so weak we could have a chance to win, but my grin quickly vanishes as I hear the human again. "Don't underestimate him! He already looked so weakened before the battle, but had no problem finishing of the others."  
>I groan as the Salamance nods. "Understood. I won't give him a chance to take me by surprise."<br>She dodges Draks dragon breath and glares at him while he snarls. "I don't like oversized introductions."  
>We roll out of the way as she leaps forward and tries to hit us with a dragon claw, we counter by tackle her side. The wyvern throws us off her chest and we land about two times her length away from her. I spit some blood as some of our wounds open up by the impact. Suddenly the flare expires and we're engulfed in darkness again.<br>"Don't worry, I'm sure I got some flares left!"  
>I carefully try to circle my opponent without creating any noise while I hear the trainer digging and searching in her bag.<br>"What the..? There's a hole in the area I kept the flares. They are all gone!"  
>I keep silent and slowly walk closer to my enemy as she tries to comfort her trainer. "Don't worry. I'm sure I can win without any light."<br>I think she has to be around three steps away from us. Drak seems confident we can turn the tides now as he whispers to her. "Don't act so overconfident, winged worm."  
>We ram into her and I bite her throat, but her hardened scales seem as solid as rock. I try to cling to her as close as possible as she stands up and tries to shake us off.<br>I grasp at my remaining power and try to somehow push it into my body and increase my physical strength. I regret it almost instantly as the power combines with the shadow energy I strangely feel pulsing in my whole body, opening and widening every cut and scar we have as a shadow aura extends from our body. I have to force myself to keep conscious as the aura further widens and slowly wraps around my enemy slashing at her. 'Wait. Does it really cut her or just open every wound she every received?' I try to ignore the searing pain the attack makes me endure and follow the effect on the winged dragon. The wound seem to appear randomly first glance, but after a few seconds I can almost see parts of her previous fights, if a cut deepens a lot she seems to had problems protecting the spot in many fights. The shadow has engulfed her completely by now and I notice there are almost no wounds on her wings. 'Does she take special care for them or did she evolve recently?'  
>I twitch as Drak starts laughing next to me. "Pure, physical pain. Interesting change of pace, Ke."<br>I feel a red beam colliding with my aura, unable to penetrate it, as our enemy drops down onto her back. We keep sitting on her for a few seconds while the attack fades. I try to catch my breath again and feel our condition get worse, we have lost a lot of blood.  
>The human finally succeeds in retreating her wounded friend.<br>Drak snarls at the trainer. "We won."  
>She almost snivels. "Yeah, you did. So? Want me to give you something?"<br>"Correct. You wasted our time so it seems fair you hand us some food and hints how to get out of this giant cave."  
>"How to get out this cave? I already thought you did not come from here. If you keep going this way you will reach Celestic Town, turn around and you get to Snowpoint City which has a port."<br>We shudder for a moment before walking closer to her. "I guess we keep on track, I got enough of snow, hail and blistering cold for a while." We reach her and sit down. "Now hand over some food."  
>I'm close enough to see she's twitching. "But I only got a few cans of Pokefood to spare, and without a can opener that won't help you."<br>Draks head slowly moves closer to her face while growling. "We won't need a can opener, but if you don't hurry up I will prove I can serve as a human opener."  
>She twitches again. "N-no n-need t-to become aggressive, you won."<br>She pulls out four cans an sets them in front of us, two for him, two for me.  
>Drak swiftly grabs one of my cans. "I handled the negotiation and that's my payment."<br>I only nod and open my remaining can. I would have been surprised if he had not acted that way.  
>The human quickly grabs her bag and runs off. 'I'm not sure if she can make it to Snowpoint with so little skin attached to, but that really isn't my problem.'<br>I finish my meal and see Drak is already waiting for me. We get going while trying not to cough and spit blood along the way.  
>By the time I see the light of an exit I have to focus not to stagger each step we take. We leave the tunnel and I grin as we fall to the floor less then a dozen steps away from the exit. 'We made it! And no more snow!'<br>I slowly feel my conscious fading, but Drak headbutts me. "Hey! Stay awake, it would be a real shame to black out so close to our goal."  
>"Stop talking and lend me some strength, I got no idea why I always end up carrying you around."<br>New power fills me, not a lot, only enough to hopefully keep us going until we reach a safe place. "There you have it. Now stop whining, I haven't got anything left."  
>I nod and sniff. "The human scent is pretty strong around here. I guess we are close to the city, I think Celestic Town was the name."<br>"I'm sure we can trick trick the nurse in the Pokecenter to give us some food."  
>We keep on track and soon see a small human city. I'm able to drag us close to the gates before the rest of my energy leaves me. I turn to Drak and see he has already fallen asleep. Our body collapses and my vision turns blank while I hear two human walking next to me.<br>"It's drenched in blood!"  
>"We should carry it to the Pokecenter."<br>"Are you nuts? What if it's not its own blood?"  
>I faintly feel a hand sweeping of some blood of my side. "Look at this cut! A lot of it has to have spilled out of the dragon. And now stop talking and help me, we should carry it in before the rain starts."<br>"But it lies ten feet outside and looks heavy."  
>I hear a slap and black out.<p>

End of chapter 12. Nothing to say, only thing is I slowly start to question myself if someone has gotten this far. Enough of my self-pity, hope you enjoyed it (yeah, I'm talking to you, only reader left.  
>"Don't dwell on that, it's not funny."), review if you think there is something I can improve (pretty sure there are multiple things) or anything else you want to say.<br>"You're desperate for attention, huh?"  
>Yeah. And now back into the story, Ke.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer:Poke...  
>"The author told me you can stop now. If they did not get it by now it's hopeless anyway."<br>Disclaimer: Really? Thanks.

"Do you think we can fix them? Can't believe they're capable of breathing. I always..."  
>"You always tell the trainer not to push their Pokemon over the edge so hard. I know. We all know. You keep saying that for the last ten years."<p>

'Why do these trees look like sticks with green balls at the top?'  
>"Hey! You're Ke, I guess? Of course you are, it's your dream I entered after all."<br>I slowly raise my head and see a tiny, green bird sitting in front of me. The bird nervously chuckles.  
>"I got a message for you. It says..."<br>"I don't care. Keep the message for yourself. Who are you? And how are you able to produce such an awful background? Never saw a tree before?" I think I'm a bit rude, but just looking a the trees gives me headaches.  
>"But it's important you hear it."<br>I growl and the bird twitches and hops back a few feet.  
>"I-I c-come back l-later."<p>

"Hey you, dragon! Say something if you can hear me."  
>I try to say something, but feel my energy fading again.<br>"I think they're dead. Carry them out."  
>"Don't say that. You see they are breathing."<br>"Okay, they are not yet. But you know as good as I do we can't help. Every time we try push energy into them the scars open and the power leaves again. The other Chansey are getting desperate. And it's unfair for the cleaner to leave a bloody mess every time we try to heal them."

"Hear my word, mortal! I..."  
>'The trees look good this time, but...' I shake my head. "You're pathetic. Last time the trees looked awful, now you focus on the trees and everything else looks... you see it yourself, I won't waste my breath."<br>The bird appears in front of me again. "How about this? You let me deliver my message and you will never see me again."  
>I slowly nod. "Let's get this over then."<br>He clears his throat. "Dawn to dust, Life to ash."  
>I snarl. "You annoy me with that nonsense? Get going or I try if you are edible in my dream."<br>"It's not my fault if the message is stupid! I tried to figure it out myself, but who would tell me anything important? My job is done, whatever you do with the message is your problem."

Hate. I twitch, but can't find the source of the strange assault. It feels familiar somehow.  
>"Great. Instead of getting them conscious we made them attack us."<br>"Don't be so sarcastic. We wait a minute and carry the others out."  
>"I got no idea why it is important for you to heal anything that comes here. It's our duty to help anyone recover who gets here, but I'm sure we can exclude Pokemon who throw half a dozen of Chansey into what sounds like a terrible nightmare. I count myself lucky I did not get hit."<br>"There has to be a good side in them."

Pain. 'Thought I was numb by now.' I feel my energy slowly returning while my body feels like it's burning, again. I try to suppress a groan.  
>"Are you sure this will work? Looks like a waste of time and money to give them a single milk drink over the last half hour."<br>"Told you, don't be so negative. I think I heard a groan. And if we gave the drink at once a dark pulse would have hit us."  
>"And how exactly did you get the idea to slowly pour it onto them instead of just letting one of the heads drink it?"<br>"First of all, how do you think we should open one of the mouths and pour it in without risking to make them choke on it? Second, I already tried it once. I was unable to turn a Snorlax around, so I got frustrated and throw the bottle against it. The hit seemed to heal it so I carefully used a second one. After that I completely forgot about it, as it never seemed like something we would have to do casually."  
>I feel a hand touching my head. I try to snarl, but instead cough and feel the claw-mark on our chest opening.<br>"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."  
>My vision turns white again.<p>

"See? I told you it would work. The wounds look a lot better today!"  
>I remember this voice, but it seemed in high spirits this time.<br>"First of all, most of it has to be in your imagination, I can't see any mayor healing. Second, you keep trying the strangest things on them for the past week, even if nothing worked the natural healing should have got them into conscious. Third, what are you planning to do with that can of deluxe Pokefood?"  
>"Come on, they look a lot better, beside of the mark on the chest no wound did open for quite some time now."<br>"The bleeding almost never stopped and you see it as a good sign it did now? Maybe there is just nothing left. Could I get the can, please?"  
>"No! You're already a bit too overweight, I won't aid you getting even more pounds. This snack is for our patient, if one of the heads wakes up and is hungry. I will put it next to the left one."<br>I hear a quick clank and gulp, followed by a happy snicker before everything seems to turn silent again.  
>"Correct me if I'm wrong, Maria. Did the head just open the can, gorge it down and snicker while staying asleep?"<br>"Looks that way. But no wound did open and the patient took in something solid, so I count it as a success."  
>"I hope he noticed what he did eat, I love these cans."<br>I have to snicker, but quickly fall asleep.

"What are you doing there, Blissey? "  
>"I'm testing a theory. Maybe they are just faking to be asleep."<br>"So you brought a hammer, six cans with food and a... What is this thing?"  
>"That's my lucky-punch. I want a effective weapon if one of them decides to attack me."<br>I hear a bit of rattling and coughing followed by clanking, gulping and smashing.  
>"What? The head just ate my lunch! And he did not even wake up as I hit him with my hammer multiple times! God, he sure has a deep sleep."<br>I manage to open my eyes for a moment and see a nurse and a pink, oval Pokemon with white wings standing in front of us. The nurse steps closer to me. "Hey! Finally at least one head is awake. Nice to see you're recovering after all. Need something?"  
>I slowly shake my head before falling asleep again.<p>

I feel a hand petting my head and snarl while slowly opening my eyes. I see the nurse quickly takes a few steps back and lifts her hand in a defensive manner. She laughs nervously. "No need to become aggressive, I just wanted to check if you're awake."  
>I glance around. "The pink one did not accompany you today?"<br>"No. She is, let's just say she wasn't pleased your other head ate her food."  
>I shake my head and snicker, but pause as pain erupts from every muscle in body. "He's not my head. You could say we only share a very tight connection, we are far away from being the same."<br>She slowly nods. "I see. Sorry, your the first of your species that came here. Mind if I take a few notes?"  
>I growl. "Yeah, I do mind." 'The less they know, the better for us.' I try to stand up and manage to stand for a moment before falling down again.<br>"You should rest. The other head looks even more exhausted, he didn't move an inch yet."  
>I slowly raise my head and give my brother a headbutt. He groans and slowly opens his eyes while snarling at me. I laugh, but stop as our wounds open again. "Nope, he's incredible lazy, that's all."<br>Drak growls at me, but suddenly stops and seems to lick his teeth. "If you knew what is good for you, you would do the same. Did you shove something in my mouth as I slept? There's some strange taste, not too bad though."  
>The human almost seems to stagger and fall down as a laughter bursts out of her. "You're able to open cans and eat the interior without waking up. That's hilarious. And a tiny bit scary, you seem wild, so the encounters with humans have to have ended pretty bad on the human end."<br>I snarl and hear Drak does the same. "Not our problem. We get some food before you throw us out?"  
>"Throw you out? Oh, because you're able to walk you think you have to leave. To be honest, the majority of the Chansey here would like that, but you should stay here for at least one additional day, you can't just stand up and walk miles after a sleep this long. But I hurry to get you two a little snack."<br>I hear our stomach grumbles and Drak calls after her. "Get a big one!"

It feels like it only took the blink of an eye as she returns, but I think I dimmed off for a moment.  
>She brought us seven cans of food, six with the casual Pikachu and one with a Raichu on it. While I stare at the different can Drak opens it and swallows it at once.<br>"I like this. Wider variations of types, not almost only normal types."  
>The human nods. "It's the deluxe edition of Pokefood. I think while you are staying here I should show you the trinity cave, you seem restless and many have calmed down looking at the painting."<br>I slowly nod and glance to the food cans again. "What? You already ate all of them? Drak, why can't you slow down, just once?"  
>He grins at me. "Hey, it's not my fault if you are slower then an Escavalier bound to a large stone."<br>We stand up and follow the nurse out of the hospital, I think I see a Blissey waving behind us, screaming never to come back, but that could be an illusion, I still feel pretty weak.

The moment we enter the cave I have to groan. It feels like pure energy is flowing out of some place in the back of it and my body saturates with it, making the shadow power react painfully, to say the least. I look at the human and have to shake my head. 'How can any creature be so numb to their surroundings like the humans are?'  
>We reach the back of the cave and I see the origin of the power, a simple painting of four dots, three in a triangle shape around a single one. The major part of the force leaks out of the one in the middle. In comparison the other three aren't even worth mentioning, despite them exceeding my current power already. I feel blood pouring down my side, but the strange marks seem to drag my attention to it. 'What does it mean? The three surrounding ones are equal in terms of strength, so they have to have a similar position. Maybe guards of the single one? No, the single one surely can handle himself, or herself who knows. But if they work together they might be able to hold the single one back for a moment. Keep it in check...'<br>I have to shake my head, the pain has intensified to an amount I can't ignore anymore and a dark aura of despair, fear and hate is wrapping around us. I glance to Drak and see he somehow has a smile on his face, mumbling something about the ability of new pain to wash away older pain. I try to find the nurse, but she already left. 'Maybe the people here noticed Pokemon look healthier in here, so she tried out how it would work on us. And left as we stayed despite our opening cuts.'  
>I turn around and slowly try to pull our body back out. As we exit the cave the aura vanishes and we fall down. I feel the remaining energy concentrating in my throat and I try to release it by using a dragon breath, but instead of being able to simply release it I feel the power gathering in my mouth before it bursts and fires a shock wave forward and backward into my throat. I gag and see my vision getting blurry as my brother looks at me and opens his mouth, maybe saying something, I can't hear anything and soon my vision turns white and I fall unconscious.<p>

End of chapter 13. Hope the beginning is no too confusing. If you like this chapter, please review.  
>"Would be great if you do, it looks like he loses the desire to write any new chapters if none reads them anyway. And there's a high chance it would end his stupid mourning, get a hang on yourself!"<br>Keep it shut, I won't argue with someone who just knocked himself out with his own attack.  
>"You two sure have strange problems."<br>And you're not supposed to appear till next chapter, so keep low. Anyway that's Aken the Gabite.


	14. Chapter 14

"Wake up, brother."  
>I glance to Drak and see he is leaned over me, looking a bit worried. We are in the Pokecenter again, easy to see because of this distinct smell of medicine in the air. "How long was I unconscious?"<br>"Less then a day. But the Blissey will kick us out as soon as possible. How can you stay mad at someone for so long just because he ate a few cans of your food? Unfriendly character."  
>I shake my head as we stand up. "Forgiveness isn't natural for nurses? Maybe we should remember that."<br>He snickers. "More likely we met a very special one."  
>We quickly leave, taking a short detour and eating a few cans of unprotected Pokefood lying around on a table, marked with some strange papers, but the signs still make no sense for us, so we eat them. Outside we glance around and decide to go east, following the street for a while before changing onto a muddy path, making it a tad harder to walk, but reducing our chance to meet any annoying trainer.<br>We walk in silence for a moment before I stagger and can barely avoid falling down as I see my breath condensates. 'The sun is shining, it was pretty warm less then a minute ago, what is happening. And how comes this stuff always happens if I want a calm day?'  
>The feeling of something cold wrapping around us increases and I feel a layer of I building on our scales. I try to move, attack whoever tries to harm us, run away, anything, but the ice keeps me in place, pushing me down. I shake my head and notice the ice stopped at my neck, I'm not totally immobilized. 'So someone or something only wants to play with us?' I hear Drak coughing and see the ice is forming a ring around his throat, chocking him into unconsciousness. 'Or maybe only with me...'<br>"Whelp."  
>I turn to the growling voice in front of us and see the strange ice-covered dragon standing in front of me. 'Is he smiling? I can hardly make out his facial expressions.' "You want to try to gain my shadow power without my permission again?"<br>The dragon shakes his head. "No. You manage to control them without going insane, maybe I was wrong and they belong to you. I offer you a different trade this time."  
>"And the offer is so great you had to chain me here and choke my brother before telling me about it?"<br>He growls, or laughs, I find it hard to make that out. "You gained a tiny bit of approval of me, whelp. That's the only reason we are talking right now. He did not, he has no right to participate in this bargain."  
>I slowly nod. "I see."<br>"There are multiple ways to gain access to someones power, ranging from having it given voluntary and fully to someone else to ripping it out of his body. But most of them end with the death of one of the participants."  
>I can't suppress a nervous laugh. "Which none of us would like."<br>The ice-covered one nods. "Correct. I admit, if you had accepted my last offer you would be dead by now, nobody survives without his core. But I know a way we both gain a bit of each others power without one of us dieing. It's less effective, but you won't accept your death so easily and I can't allow myself to weaken by fighting you, not with the other players of our godly game waiting so eagerly for that to happen. It won't be painless, but you might be able to gain back a bit of the control over ice."  
>"Why do you not give me full control like last time?"<br>He shakes his head. "No. That was a stupidly high risk I was willing to take. It's possible to lend power for a limited time, but the giver will constantly weaken until he takes his power back. No option, whelp."  
>"Stop calling me whelp!"<br>Again he growl, or laughs. "Why? That's what you are for me, young, weak, but full of potential. Did you like pawn better?"  
>I shudder. "I think we should go for whelp then. Tell me what your plan intends already." 'The cold only drains a very small percent of my energy, but that's no reason to keep it on me longer then it has to.'<br>I feel the ice on my chest, especially on the claw-mark, melting while he steps closer. "Getting impatient, whelp? The trade is very old, don't dishonor it, young one. So you are willing to accept?"  
>I growl, if that dragon is only half as old and strong as he tells me that's no smart move, but his arrogance is starting to get on my nerves. "You did not tell me what it takes of me."<br>He nods. "I will open a small cut on my claw and push it into your chest. As our blood mingles I should be able to grasp a bit of your power and you of mine. Hold it tight, as we part the energy will try to return to me. If you manage to keep the power inside, a fragment of the power you already had will become available for you again. No matter the outcome, I won't seek you again."  
>I try to brace myself and slowly nod. "I accept."<br>In one swift motion he cuts a small wound into his right claw and rams it into my chest, directly onto the claw-mark. I feel bits of our blood mingle and his power coming into my reach. I cling to it and try to hold it as tight as possible while trying to shut out the pain of what feels like being partly impaled.  
>Suddenly the ice-dragon retreats his claw and I barely handle keeping the foreign power in check. After what feels like an eternity the struggle stops and the energy merges with my core.<br>"A bit of your power for mine. Your blood for mine. I don't think we will see again." The dragon vanishes and I my vision starts to blank out. 'Maybe that little trade took more energy then I expected.'

"Hey, Ke, get up! Bad enough we get knocked out by some idiot in a matter of seconds, at least recover a bit faster." I think I hear a bit of worry in Drak's voice, but as I look to him I can't see a trace of that.  
>We slowly stand up and I nod while glancing around. 'No snow, no water. If that really has happened the ground has absorbed every reminder of it.' "I'm up, no need to worry."<br>"Got any idea what hit us? Felt like an ice type."  
>I shudder. "Maybe. I did not get a chance to see our attacker, only some strange shape, but I guess that was some sort of hallucination."<br>He tilts his head. "Really? What did you see?"  
>"Some weird dragon covered in ice. Like I said, had to be an illusion."<br>"Yeah, had to be something like that." He shakes. "Dragon covered in ice? That would be an awful load of pain every second of his life."  
>We continue on the path and soon reach a river, some strange dragons standing in front of it, drinking of the clear water. I stop and take a closer look. I'm pretty sure it is a Gabite, but the scales somewhat throw me off. Where they normally would be dark blue, the color was light blue, the natural lighter marking almost seeming white.<br>I lower our body, ready to leap at the strange Gabite if it shows any offensive signs. "Who are you?"  
>The other dragon takes a step back and bares his teeth. "Aken. What's your name? And why are you so aggressive?"<br>I hear my brother snarling. "I'm Drak, this is Ke."  
>I nod while we keep ready to attack. "We like to stay cautious. Too many incidents in our past."<br>The ground dragon slowly seems to relax. "I see. What brings you here, red scales?"  
>I feel Drak further tensing. "Don't call us that, blue scales."<br>I carefully loosen our stance. "No need to kill each other because of strange scale-colors. We're just wandering around. And you're here because your home is nearby?"  
>Aken twitches. "No. You could say I got banished. An extremely unpleasant series of events lead to that."<br>I headbutt Drak. "Whatever you were about to say, don't say it. Don't taunt everyone we meet."  
>"I did not... why do you think it's my fault everyone attacks us?"<br>"Let's call it a vague idea of me. Aken was your name, right? So tell me, where do you plan to go next?" 'Maybe he knows about a few places I should avoid or possible hunting spots.'  
>"To be honest, I don't know. My clan lives northern of here, near the spring of this river. I did follow it up to this point, but I don't believe that plan will lead me much longer."<br>Drak has calmed down, or at least he looks that way. He snickers. "Three dragons, zero plans. You could say fate lead us together."  
>The blue scaled dragon suddenly growls. "Fate? Only fools believe in something like that! Let's sacrifice the son of our leader because his scales turned lighter."<br>I shudder, his hatred almost becomes visible, but my brother seems to like the idea of poking him, metaphorically spoken. "So you don't want to join our holy pact of frozen destined?"  
>I bite the bigmouth while the ground-dragon exposes all his teeth and looks like he will try to rip us open any second. 'Why does Drak have to be so frustrating?'<br>The Gabite walks closer. "Never mention any stupid, frozen pacts near me!"  
>Drak just laughs. "I like this guy."<br>I blink at the other dragon in confusion. "That's something new. Up to this point anyone we met was either annoying, potential dangerous or tasty for my brother."  
>Aken relaxes, a bit at least. "His humor will get you two killed some day. Might be fun to tag along and see that happening."<br>I nod and see Drak does the dame. "We won't hinder you if you can keep up, but don't expect us to go down easily, we enjoy our lives way too much to die anytime soon."  
>He steps closer and pushes against the claw-mark on our chest, making us flinch. He snickers. "I see you already met a worthy opponent to kill you. Impressive size, but no mark I recognize." He follows the trail and notices the two slightly deeper holes in it. He looks at Drak. "Did someone already try to pierce through you and your oversized ego?"<br>My brother shifts backwards and looks at me. "Ask him, I was slightly distracted as it happened."  
>I gulp. 'As if someone would believe me.' "I already told you, my position wasn't that great either." I turn to the Gabite. "My memories on that event are a bit blurry, but I will try my best." I clear my throat. "Everything felt cold, as if we were in a blizzard, but there was no snow. Suddenly ice wrap around us, by the noises Drak made it chocked him."<br>He nods. "Painful, felt like a frozen ring closed around my throat."  
>"I tried to move, but the cold weight kept me in place as some strange dragon-like shape appeared in front of me, parts of the body covered in ice. I think it said something before pushing one claw in the wound on our chest. After that I blacked out and the thing had vanished as we woke up." I look down. 'That wasn't totally true, but close enough to sound insane.'<br>Glancing back up I see our possible companion has bared his teeth again. "There are no ice-dragons."  
>I quickly take a step back while Drak seems to snap back to reality. He snickers. "Hey, don't rip us to shreds because of Ke's hallucinations. Like I said, I was distracted, by getting strangled to be exactly, but you don't have to believe him."<br>I nod. "Panic can alter your view on things. I'm aware the story sounds weird."  
>Aken takes a step back and slightly bows. "I might have overreacted a bit, sorry. We should get going while as long as there is some sunlight left."<br>We nod and continue our journey, the Gabite following us close by. 'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.'  
>We walk in silence for a while before Drak turns his head backwards. "We were born with this red scales, how about you? Always had that color?"<br>I glance back and see the blue-scaled dragon slowly shakes his head. "No. I was always of a slightly lighter blue then my brethren, but this extreme light blue has appeared more or less recently."  
>I blink at him in confusion and almost stagger. "Do you know why your scales changed?"<br>He slowly down while seemingly carefully choosing his next words. "Maybe. The color..." He shakes his head. "No, I got banished, but I won't tell my clan's secrets to the first stranger crossing my path. Tell me something about your clan and family."  
>We stop and I glance to Drak, catching a faint glimpse of sorrow. Suddenly he grins. "You want to start? I think my brother has a different definition of our, or more exactly his own, origin and family then I have."<br>I slowly nod. "Yeah, most likely our origins and families aren't the same. But you're older, so why don't you start?"  
>The sorrowful look returns as he growls at me. "Fine. I hatched on a lone island somewhere near Unova. I never had a clan, my only family, my mother, died a month ago. Your turn."<br>I gulp. 'Maybe some old wounds should stay covered in scab.' "I started my existence as Drak was immobilized by his past, so I could burrow his body. I guess you could say I got shaped by humans, no bounds of blood, no real family, no clan."  
>Aken laughs. "The past of you two is pretty weird, especially Ke's. If I ha not met an almost insane Pidgeot who was mumbling about a similar procedure done to her I wouldn't believe you. You got lucky there were two heads you could split into before the pressure of two souls in one body made you go insane."<br>We get going again and soon I'm able to spot a cave for us to rest. We lie down and quickly fall asleep. 'Aken dodged our questions, but sooner or later we should be able to get our answers.'

End of chapter 14. Yay for a new reviewer. And if anyone else got this far and has slight problems understanding the concept of core and energy, Ke will try to explain it a bit further.  
>"Why do I have to do it?"<br>Drak has the habit of biting me if I drag him here and Aken is no main character. Get started."Whatever. Let's start the explanation with the very basics why our author introduced the idea of every Pokemon having a core filled with energy. We are able to attack with a wide variation of attacks, some of us having an almost unlimited supply of those, for example a typical Emboar can use multiple different normal, fir and fighting based attacks and with a little help extend his move-pool to other types as well. On the other hand idiotic species like Magikarp are extremely limited in the set of attacks they can use, but nobody likes them anyway until they evolve. I'm sure they taste gross, too. Back to the explanation, the energy has to come out of somewhere, nobody likes inconsistent massing of power without any withdrew or source, right? I don't like this job, can really nobody else do it?"  
>Nope. You're not that bad, so stop mourning.<br>"Should have known this would bite me some day. Like I already said, every Pokemon has this core of pure energy in it, depending on the individual it can take pretty long until they discover it. We can enhance almost every attack with this power, for example making a simple scratch of a claw into a dragon claw, though it depends on the species what the power can add to a move, if you see a Emboar using a vine whip you have some serious hallucinations. The next part will be a bit tricky, don't worry if you have problems understanding it, it's not totally mandatory. Even though I said the power core lies in us, on the other hand our body is our power core. How to put that into easier to understand language? You can dig into our skin, flesh and bones as long and deep as you want to, you won't find our core, but it is possible to devour someones core if you eat him, the fresher the more of it you get. And if we exhaust too much it is possible our core replenishes by taking life out of our body. If our core fully leaves us we die. I heard some see our core as our soul, but I don't like the image of myself ripping apart my soul to kill an enemy. A little break for me?"  
>You get your break after you finished this.<br>"My head almost burns with all that complicated stuff. It's like trying to explain weight in a zone without gravitation. Sorry for the interruptions. It is possible to influence your own core, forcefully draining it (not healthy) and some attacks can effect your core as well, through attacking your body or really directly, latter being hard to counter if you have weak control over yourself. I think that was everything, right?"  
>Maybe a little explanation about your own core freezing a week ago?<br>"Okay. Like I said, body and core are connected, so under the correct conditions the core can freeze, making it useless for the major part of us, exceptions exist, or other things on that line. Talent or training can make it possible to directly turn food into energy, extending or healing wounds on the core, the natural healing process is extreme slow otherwise. A healthy Pokemon has a shell-like structure around his core, protecting and limiting it, trying to break this barrier can and most likely will lead to your death as the core also serves as our life force. In my dream I felt the barrier freezing, did panic and tried to unfreeze it by ramming it, leading to it being shattered and my death. Lucky it was only a dream. Maybe I should add a bit of how it feels to use your core and if it gets wounded or frozen. If you use an attack with energy like dragon breath the core almost materializes in the corresponding part of your body and you feel power flooding through it, pretty exciting the first time you feel it, until you release the energy. That on the other hand can be one of the worst experiences you can make, as you can almost literally feel a bit of your life leaving you. But most of the times all that happens in the rush of a fight were you feel your adrenalin pumping through you, focusing you solely on the opponent and the need to hurt and kill him, so it is rare someone is so terrified by the experience he never uses his power again. Break?"  
>You can have this cooky, now continue.<br>"Tasty. The feeling of your core getting hurt is really bad. It's like someone attacks your very being, in a sense that's even correct, but like before adrenalin, hate and other combat related feelings can help suppress that. And if your core or the shell of it changes, for example freezes, you are up to one of the weirdest feelings I have made yet. At first you are surprised, as if your always healthy right leg suddenly vanishes and a meat stick replaces it. Next there is the moment of panic as you try to identify with the new core, but just seem unable to do so. After that the options split, you can accept the change, maybe even approve of it, or decline it, leading to yourself slowly turning insane as the one point most persons center their being around isn't there anymore. Come on, that should be enough, this gets out of hand, I think it's longer then the chapter itself already!"  
>No, it's less then a third of the chapter... wait a sec, maybe you're right. Hope you liked the chapter, review if you feel like doing so and the short...<br>"Short?"  
>More or less short explanation about the core of a Pokemon did help understanding the story.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

"I miss you, Shale."  
>"Don't worry. We will meet again, Ke."<br>My eyes snap open while I have to suppress a groan. 'I hope you are right.' It's still dark outside, so I prepare to continue my nap, but stop as I hear my brother mumble. "Team? Friends? Pathetic dreams. You can only trust yourself, humans will always abandon you..."  
>I stare at him, but he looks like he's asleep. 'Since when is my brother a sleep-talker?'<br>I dim off.

The next time I open my eyes the sun is shining into our cave, but Drak and Aken did not wake up yet. I lean closer to my brother and whisper into his ear. 'It's not like I get this chance often.' "Wake up, Drak, we have Vanillish for breakfast."  
>I admit I'm surprised by his reaction. "Creamy! No!" I can barely evade his bite by leaning right.<br>I see our companion is shaking and standing up. "I hope this isn't normal for you?"  
>Drak glares at me. "No. And it won't get normal."<br>I snicker, the result wasn't as planned, but fun nonetheless. "Had a nightmare or why so tensed up?"  
>He shakes. "Shouldn't we be going by now?"<br>I nod and we leave the cave. Judging by the sun it's early in the morning. The Gabite steps in front of us and grins. "Come on, what are you waiting for? The early bird catches the worm."  
>In response my brother snarls. "Do we look like a stupid flying type? I hate mornings, they remind me of mothers training." He shudders. "How did I survive that?"<br>The ground-dragon seems interested. "Tell me about it."  
>Somehow I don't like the grin of Drak. "No, I got a better idea. We will try the first steps of it, we should get into shape again anyway."<br>He grasps control of our body and leads us east until we stop in front of three rocks. I carefully look at them, but they remain plain rocks, as big as our torso, nothing special.  
>Aken walks closer to the right one of them and pushes against it, but the stone seems stuck. "What's next? Scratch a few inch into it?" His claw starts glowing blue and he slashes at the object, leaving a mark. "Next task?"<br>Drak just laughs. "You did not really believe it would be that easy, did you? You have to smash the rock, no leftovers bigger then an inch." He steps closer to the left one and bites into it. I see ice covering the stone before he takes a step back. "Wish I knew this attack while training." To finish his demonstration he simply stomps the frozen stone and watches it shatter. "I remember this being a lot harder as a Deino, maybe the target was harder. Want to give it a try too, Ke?"  
>I glance at the only still unharmed stone. 'Maybe I can try my new attack while I'm at it.' I nod at Drak. "Let's see if I can use my new attack without knocking myself out."<br>I slowly grasp at my core and concentrate the energy in my mouth. I have to focus on the ball of energy as my instincts tell me just to release the power as a dragon breath, weaker, but safer. 'No. How could I get stronger if I only use moves I can't advance in anymore?' I shake my head a bit to focus on the sphere in my mouth, but already feel my concentration loosening. I manage to lead the mayor part of the shock wave out and towards the stone. It shatters, but I have to cough and catch my breath. 'This might be powerful, but I need some training with it or I won't be able to use it in a real fight.'  
>I notice Aken staring at me with a slightly shocked expression before starting to laugh. "Poser. I guess you will need some training with dragon pulse."<br>I grin. "Why? Maybe I like how it ended?"  
>He turns serious while shaking his head. "You have to be joking. I could almost see how you were barely able to keep the power in check. If you use it in that manner in a battle there's a high chance you kill yourself and your opponent." He takes a deep breath and slices his stone in two halves with dragon claw.<br>I snarl. "I have enough reliable attacks, but you only seem to have one."  
>My brother grins. "Perfect. Next step would be to hunt something down for breakfast, but a sparring match before that fits into the plan." He leans back and snickers. "Don't kill each other."<br>I get into my fighting stance while glancing around. The field we are on is more or less empty, no obstacles to hinder or help one of us. "Ready, blue scales?"  
>In response he jumps forward and tries to slice us with a white glowing claw, but hesitates for a moment. I use his hesitation and easily evade by taking a step back before firing a dragon breath at him. He stumbles back and I snicker. "Come on, it's a sparring match, but you can try to take it a bi more serious. I pity you if that was more then a tenth of your abilities."<br>He just growls and leaps at me again. As a counter I simply run forward and headbutt him while his slash misses my head and our wings. The ground-dragon takes a step back and I tackle him to the ground standing on his arms. "Never learned to use anything besides your claws? Why is your species called Gabite if you never use your teeth?"  
>Aken bites into our right leg before pushing us off. "Happy?" He spits onto the ground. "You taste awful."<br>I simply grin and wait for his next attack. 'Hopefully he knows more then four moves.' The beam of his dragon breath almost catches me off guard, after all he did not look like he knew any ranged moves. The breath makes contact with my chest and I feel the wound opens again. The blue scaled dragon follows up with a dragon claw and deepens the mark. 'Maybe this won't be as dull as expected.'  
>I cough a bit of blood onto the ground before charging into him, pinning him again. I let energy fill my body and feel my wounds break open as the shadow aura extends. I only keep the attack p for a few moments, stopping as I hear the Gabite laughing. "Why are you struggling to keep this weak attack up? Smashing rocks in one hit, but unable to use any sustained moves efficiently?"<br>He swiftly throws me off gain while I shudder. 'Ouch, almost no effect? Maybe the attack isn't so foolproof after all.'  
>Before the ground-dragon gets a chance to use my weakened state and maybe deal me a serious injury I bow down and cough. "I guess that should be enough for our first fight. Next we get something to eat?"<br>I have to suppress a twitch as Drak laughs, in the rush of my fight with Aken I forgot about my brother. "Correct. Any talents in catching food?"  
>The blue scaled dragon shakes his head. "No completely average in hunting and fishing."<br>I sniff and smell a faint odor of human, strangely covered in the scent of dragon types. "Ever tried human food?" Without waiting for any response I decide to follow the trail, a quick glance back shows me our companion follows close.

By the time I see a small human building the sun has risen to its zenith. We step to the door while the scent of dragon almost gets overwhelming. I shake my head. "It might be a stupid idea to break into the home of a human who had contact with so many dragons."  
>My brother snickers. "Your concerns are a bit too late. Hey, can we come in?" 'Since when is he asking for something an option for him?'<br>After a moment a human answers, the voice sounds pretty old. "The door's open. Don't break it down!"  
>We stay motionless for a moment before turning to Aken. I grin at him. "Could you please give it a try and push it open? These stupid things always break if Drak tries to enter."<br>Drak snaps at me. "It's not my fault they are built so fragile!"  
>The Gabite interrupts us by stepping forward and carefully pushing the door open while laughing at us. "What's so difficult at doing this?"<br>We both glare at him. "Try that without having arms."  
>Before we get the chance to argue for a while the human speaks again. "Come in already, it's getting cold in here."<br>I whisper at the ground-dragon. "We will finish this later."  
>He nods and we step in and get greeted by an awful heat. After our body adjusted to the new temperature I glance around and notice a human looking into a strange metal-glass thing. The scene in it is quickly changing until it stops at a fight between a Gothitelle and an Arbok. Our host keeps ignoring us, but before I can try something to get her attention Drak pushes against me. "Wait until the fight ends, please."<br>I blink at him in confusion and turn to the battle again. 'Why is he so interested in this he even pleads at me?'  
>Despite the type disadvantage of the poison type the fight seems pretty even. Every time the psychic type glows and tries to mentally throw the snake a dark aura wraps around the legless Pokemon and it falls back down. It seems to have been going in this manner for a while now as both show first signs of exhaustion. 'A game of endurance, the first one who staggers loses.'<br>I glance to Drak and see he follows every tiny motion of the psychic type. 'What's so exciting there?'  
>The battle has sped up as the Gothitelle switched from trying to throw her opponent to ripping stones out of the ground and throwing them at the snake which is able to evade every projectile and quickly gets closer to her. It feels like it only took the blink of an eye before the Arbok wraps around his enemy and the dark aura appears again. 'Looks like the fight is over, dark pulse should finish her off pretty quick.' I'm about to turn away as I hear the female laughs. "Is this everything you got? I got attacked by children with darker memories. Poor snake feels like he does not get enough appreciation for humiliating worn out enemies. Get a hang on yourself!" The attacker seems to get a bit loose and she grabs his throat. "Despite being so proud about being able to use dark pulse you never thought how the attack really works. It relies on bitter or otherwise unpleasant memories and thoughts, pathetic self-pity is pretty low on that scale of power." The aura flashes one more time before it vanishes. "Tell me, did you ever feel so close to death the fear of it alone seemingly killed you? Or lost someone so dear to you your heart felt like it could shatter?" She shakes his throat and head. "You don't have to answer, I already know you never did." The next moment she yanks him off and launches him several feet. "So focused on dealing damage with your mind you almost completely abandoned training your body, but even on your specialized area you fail. Pathetic."A lightning arc jumps from the psychic type to the snake, rendering it unable to move.<br>Suddenly the scene changes and shows three humans sitting next to each other, the left one seems lost in his thoughts. The one in the middle nods. "And that was this week top match, featuring Kitaro..." The man on the left twitches before raising his hand. "And..."  
>The screen turns black and the old human turns towards us. "Why are you looking so depressed, dragon?"<br>I look to my brother who is shaking his head and mumbling. "Forget about them, Drak, you have to leave the memories behind." He turns to the woman. "It's not your business. Why does it smell in here like a dozen of dragons keep you company each day, but we can't see any?"  
>The old human almost seems to grow a few inch. "I mastered the ultimate dragon attack, so hundreds of trainers with dragon Pokemon visit me and beg me to teach their partner."<br>I yawn. 'She is insane.' "Really? And how do you do that? Perform the attack yourself?"  
>"Don't you dare to make fun out of me!" She steps forward and presses her hand on my chest. " Recognize that claw, did the Salamance not teach you a lesson in manners?"<br>Drak moves his head closer to her and snarls. "No, she was busy trying not to bleed to death."  
>Suddenly Aken pulls us back and steps between Drak and the woman. "Hey, calm down." He slightly bows towards her. "Sorry, we came here to ask for a bit of food. Got anything you could share with us?"<br>Judging by her reaction she notices him for the first time now. "Weird color for a Gabite, too excessive training against ice?" The ground-dragon twitches. "Anyway, you said you want a bit of food? You're lucky, there are always a few idiots who bring along Pokefood."  
>Drak instantly brightens up as he hears of the food. Great! But where's the catch?"<br>The old woman snickers. "Of course. I never saw your species before so you have to tell me how it is called and show me a bit of your power."  
>She grabs my head and leads us out of a door on the opposite side of where we entered. We step into a garden, a rock two-times the size of a Hydreigon standing in the middle. The human points at it. "It's pretty easy. You have one attack, the bigger the dent you make the more cans you get."<br>Our companion walks closer and knocks on the surface. "Solid. Care to explain why you have this standing here?"  
>"It shows the progress of my students. If the technique is mastered the obelisk will shatter by the force of the attack."<br>Drak nods to the woman. "Our species is called Zweilous." He turns to me. "You should get your chance to train the new attack."  
>I nod. 'If I increase the power until the attack almost burst itself it would have the biggest impact, but the chance for it backfiring big time and knocking me or both of us out would be pretty high.' "Safe or maximal damage?"<br>"I'm hungry, take the risky way."  
>I turn my head to the other two while stepping closer to our target. "It could be a good idea to take a few steps back."<br>Aken growls, but takes a few steps back. "You want to use dragon pulse as strong as possible and risk losing control of it? Don't be such a glutton, an average powerful one should be enough."  
>In response my brother simply snarls. I snicker. "Don't try to tell my brother to control his insatiable hunger, you could say we are almost proud of being like a black hole for food."<br>The human quickly steps back until her back touches the wall. 'Impressive, never thought she could move that fast.' "Insatiable hunger? Is every Zweilous that way?"  
>My brother shakes his head. "We don't know, never met another one."<br>I grasp at my core and start concentrating energy in my mouth until I feel my control loosening again. Instead of stopping I quickly push more power into it while opening my mouth and pressing it against the stone. The last bits of control vanish as the ball exceeds two-times the size it had last time.  
>I underestimate the power of the pulse of the busting energy ball and feel my jaw almost gets torn off and blood fills my throat. My head sinks down as I try to cough the liquid out and catch my breath. My vision starts to get blurry, but I notice a gaping hole in the stone going through it to the other side. I can hardly focus on one thought as pain floods my body and I fall unconscious.<p>

End of chapter 15. Like always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and review. Hey, go away from my PC, Drak!  
>"How comes all your favorite stories have Eevee as main character? They taste awful, almost only fur."<br>They are cute. Be happy you're no Eevee. I knew it would be a bad idea to replace Ke's part with you talking, especially since there is no need for either of you anyway here.  
>"What about the question who will be the main head?"<br>Only a tiny hint, both are equally strong, Ke is a bit ahead if it comes to the movepool, but that's the only difference.


	16. Chapter 16

POV Drak  
>'I have to ask him how he does this attack.' Energy concentrates in Ke's mouth and he already struggles to keep it in check.<br>'We have to keep getting stronger for …' I shake my head, I can't remember why, the way to my goal has become by goal. My brother is fully concentrated and to keep in control. Suddenly he seems to give up the fight for control and the ball of energy simply bursts, ripping an hole into the stone while I hear a crack and his head sinks down as he spits blood. 'Not again!' "Brother?"  
>He does not react and soon goes limp as his strange shadow power reacts and pain floods us. I relax, pain helps me focus, suppress all these bitter memories awakened by the human thing. 'If that were no illusions Goth has evolved. No, don't think about them!' I shake my head again, there are more important things to worry about then my past. I carefully push Ke onto our back before turning to the human. I see she smiles and feel anger rising in me. 'How can this worthless human smile as my brother is close to his death?' I snarl at her. "We had a deal. Perfectly pierced equals all cans, right?"<br>I step closer and try to act as intimidating as possible while lending my brother energy to speed up his recovery. Aken steps in front of me and tries to calm me down, but I snap at him and force him to step aside. Angrily he pulls me back at our tail. "It was your fault Ke almost killed himself and you only care about your food?"  
>I bite into his claw and he lets me go. "Don't talk about things you don't understand." I feel the increased connection with Ke takes its toll from me, but I have to keep it up if my brother should regenerate anytime soon and feel his presence easing my pain. 'Don't leave me, brother.'<br>The woman stares at us for a moment before returning with a dozen Pokefood cans. I snarl. "Is this everything you got? Look at the stupid stone! Clearly pierced! We deserve more for that!"  
>She runs back in while the ground-dragon slightly touches my back. "Calm down, I can almost feel the hate of yours radiating from your body."<br>I grin before extending a dark pulse from our body and lightly touching him with it. He jumps back and coughs while I laugh sardonic. "I want to make one thing clear. I will do everything I can to protect my brother, my family. If you think some pathetic humans do even come close to being of any importance you should leave while you can."  
>The Gabite coughs and hesitates for a moment before nodding. "I think I understand. As long as you don't expect me to stay loyal to this code until I perish we should be able to strike an agreement."<br>I nod and quickly eat the first three cans, directing the fresh energy to Ke. The blue scaled dragon tries to grab one of the other cans, but I step into his way and snarl. "We need these. Look what the human is doing if you want some too." 'Please, brother, recover soon.'  
>I see the bleeding of my brother decreases and it looks like it gets easier for him to breath. Aken sits down and stares at Ke for a while. "How close are you two? Besides the shared body."<br>"Depends on the situation. In a fight the barrier between us can get so thin it gets difficult to remember we are two. On the other hand if it comes to things like the reasoning behind our actions..." I shake my head. "Sometimes I think our reasons are the same, other times I have no idea why he is doing something."  
>I swiftly eat the next three cans as I hear the old one returns. She sets down an additional dozen cans. "That are all I have. Good bye."<br>Before I can do anything Aken jumps to his feet and bows. "Thank you. And I'm sorry if my companion did anger or frighten you."  
>I snarl. "It's not my fault the majority of humans are sour losers. But the snacks are nice."<br>She leaves while I shake as I notice I did not pay any attention to the taste of the food. I look to Aken and see he is holding a single can in his right claw and looks at it puzzled. "How to open these?"  
>I snicker, my mood rises as I feel life returning into Ke. "Don't want to use your teeth?"<br>I demonstrate my way of opening them, but he shakes his head. "I will find my own way."  
>I nod and snicker."Fine by me." The next three cans wander into our stomach and connection. "Don't mind me taking a few of yours if you haven't figured out a way soon."<br>He nods before trying to slash open his can. I growl as at least a third of the food is sent flying and splashes against the house. "Never waste food next to me."  
>The Gabite nods and blushes a bit. "Sorry. I will use less force next time." He throws the rest of food remaining in the can into his mouth and grins. "No wonder Ke did risk a bit for getting these, great taste."<br>I nod and finish the first dozen. "The sun is still pretty high up. We should use that and continue our journey soon."  
>As response he impales three more cans with his right claw. "Take the others, I guess Ke could need them."<br>I nod and quickly gorge them down. As I turn to Aken again he has finished all of his cans and coughs. "It might be difficult to keep up with your eating tempo."  
>"You will have to if you want your fair share."<br>We leave and head east until Aken taps on my neck. "Where are we going?"  
>I stop. "Good question. Ke acted like he had an idea where to go, but without him I'm a bit clueless. We can't go west, there's no point in turning back and walking to Celestic Town again. North is no option either, I got enough snow for the rest of my life." I shudder and notice Aken does the same. 'There's nothing natural in a dragon on ice. Which does not mean we are natural if not surrounded by ice.' I decide to ignore our companion's reaction if I mention anything cold. "That leaves walking further east or turning south. You did not receive any warnings to avoid some directions, right?"<br>He twitches. "No, except don't come back before you found a way to vanquish your ice weakness or we impale you on our holy thorn." He grits his teeth. "Nothing you would care about, right? And my clan lives north-west of here, both direction you did not want to go." 'He got banished because he could not ignore an extreme type disadvantage? That's stupid. Should I mention the Yache berry? Nah, he surely already had tried them.'  
>I shake my head. "Yeah, that won't help. So we have to find a place to rest and hope Ke will tell us his plans tomorrow."<br>We change direction to south-east and walk in silence for a while. I weaken my connection with my brother as I feel his natural healing should allow him to be in tip-top-condition next morning.  
>'We should try to help Aken a bit, there's not much else to do anyway.' I grin and slowly wrap my fangs in ice. "Did you already try to slowly decrease your temperature and accumulate to snow?"<br>The ground-dragon twitches before shaking his head. "No, I always flinched and tried to keep as much distance to anything cold as possible. Why do you ask?" He stops and takes a step back. "Why are your teeth shining like that?"  
>I move closer. "Let me put it like this, you want to return to your clan, right? You don't seem too bad, so I want to help. And somehow I'm able to use ice fang which should help me do that." I snicker and change the ice covering my teeth to flames enveloping them. "Don't worry, if it gets too cold I will warm you up again."<br>He doesn't look very assured by my speech, but hesitatingly reaches out with his left claw. "I will spare my gratitude until it worked."  
>I nod and freeze my fangs before biting into the claw.<br>He shows an impressive reaction time and strength by almost instantly forcing my mouth open with his other claw and throwing me against the next tree a dozen feet away. I cough, but grin as no scar has opened up by the impact. "I did not want to test your reaction time or how far you could throw us, but you're not bad in either discipline."  
>He looks to the ground. "Sorry. Maybe we shouldn't try diving into this training so fast."<br>I shake my head. "We should try to teach you this as soon as possible. We both don't believe in fate, but the encounters I had until now are worth being called surprising, so I would like to rush your training a bit."  
>He nods. "If you say so. You don't know a technique against ice where we could delay the actual contact with it a bit?"<br>I sit down. 'It's worth a try.' I grasp at my core and extend my aura while I try not to mix any memories or emotions into it. I keep it steady at an inch around Ke's and mine body and increase the heat inside of it until I almost break into sweat.  
>The Gabite looks a bit puzzled before pressing one claw against my head. "How do you do that? A mix of attacks?"<br>"Correct. Dark pulse and fire fang. You will need to similar attacks and fighting while keeping the move up is pretty exhausting."  
>He nods and I can't get rid of the feeling he is truly motivated for the first time I tried to teach him something. I stop focusing and the aura collapses. "Too bad I have no idea how to start the lesson. You're already aware of you core, right?"<br>He nods. "Correct, you don't need to repeat the very basics."  
>I snicker. "Great, I don't believe I would be the right person for that anyway. Next step, you know any attacks were you emit a pulse or an aura?"<br>Aken scratches his head. "I'm capable of using dragon breath and I heard dragon pulse isn't that much harder."  
>I cough and look to Ke. "Really? I guess my brother is the expert of that attack between the three of us. If it backfires the result looks pretty devastating." I remain silent for a moment. "Let's skip to the next step. You know a fire attack?"<br>The Gabite grins. "Fire fang." Flames wrap around his teeth. "How would I combine the pulse with the fire move, red scales?"  
>I snarl. "I told you, don't call me that!" My fangs freeze. "Or we continue the hard way."<br>We glare at each other while we keep our elemental bites up. Aken is the first to give in and I sigh in relief, it should be uncomfortable to keep ice so close, even if I created it and the lack of that discomfort scares me. I shudder. 'Why was the discomfort towards ice so much smaller then how I remembered it?'  
>Our companion shudders. "I hope Ke wakes up soon or this temporary partnership will end before any participant gains anything from it."<br>I think I hear a bit of regret and nod. "Yeah. I end today's lesson, it's pointless to continue if you can't use dragon pulse, but if your first try ends like the one of my brother you will be knocked out for a few days."  
>The ground-dragon straightens up and snarls. "You said Ke would most likely be awake tomorrow. Why do you believe my recovery would take longer? I won't be so stupid to use all my energy first try."<br>I slowly shake my head while I remember the faint pain I felt after I almost lost Ke for the first time. "You can't compare that. It looks like if you lose control over the pulse it can and most likely will backfire into your throat." I cough. "It doesn't look like yours is out of steel, so you could call that a critical hit."He gulps. "Ke already knew what to expect, less shock and more time to react."  
>The ground-dragon shudders. "Useful if the hit shreds your throat otherwise."<br>I grin. "Still eager to try the move?"  
>He shakes his head. "I decline your offer, I prefer the current state of my throat."<br>I hear my brother groans in his sleep and snicker. 'He should be fine by tomorrow.' "Your teacher should have healed enough too show you the right way to use dragon pulse by tomorrow."  
>We continue our journey in silence and find a cave shortly before sunset. I quickly lie down and nod off. 'Might be the best if I only talk to Aken if I have to.'<p>

End of chapter 16. Read, enjoy and review if you have a question or comment on what is happening.


	17. Chapter 17

POV Ke

"Why am I doing this?"  
>Without opening my eyes I snap at the voice and feel a small bird in my mouth. I groan and spit the flying type out while opening my eyes. "We had a deal. You deliver your stupid message, I never have to see you again."<br>The Natu hops up and down and tries to clean himself of my saliva. "Do you really believe I want to be here? And try to appreciate our surroundings, it took me days to get it all this realistic."  
>I glance around. 'He's right, if it wasn't clear because of the absence of Drak and our previous meetings I could have believed this was real.' "Does my brother have this dreams too?"<br>The psychic bird has finished cleaning himself and shakes his head. "No, Drak ate his messenger and in that case our master does not send a new one."  
>I nod. 'Sounds logical.' "And why are you here? Remind me of the stupid message? Dawn to dust, life to ash. You can leave."<br>The Natu twitches. "Everything is fainting." He coughs. "Let's hope that was the last phrase, this gets painful."  
>The bird vanishes and I growl. 'If I find whoever sends this nonsense I will make sure he stops.'<p>

I wake up and see we're lying in a cave. My jaw aches, but seems mostly healed. 'I have to train my control, there's no use in being able to overwhelm an enemy in terms of power if I risk killing us using any stronger attack.'  
>I look to Drak. My brother seems to be in some strange dream, sometimes grinning, sometimes groaning. I carefully push against him and he shakes, sees me and sighs before changing to his casual, a bit mocking grin. "Awake after all. You don't plan to do that more often, right?"<br>I shake my head and grin. "Nah, with you around I have to try to stay conscious as long as possible."  
>He snickers and looks to Aken. "Perfect. I tried showing blue scales how to get a bit more resistant against ice, but he lacks a nice pulse or aura attack, so we thought you might be able to show hi how to perform dragon pulse."<br>I laugh and see Aken's eyes snap open. "I should teach someone an attack I severely hurt myself with two times already? That's insane."  
>I think I saw a hint of disappointment in the ground-dragon's look, but it quickly vanishes as he jumps onto his feet and carefully presses against our chest. "You're still our expert of the attack. Don't make me beg you to teach me."<br>I shudder. "More then an impulsive choice to learn a new attack, huh? Don't blame me if your result is even worse then mine."  
>The Gabite nods. "Your brother informed me about the potential dangers of the attack backfiring, but under your lead I am willing to try."<br>I cough. "Potential dangers? Incredible euphemistic description for chocking on your own blood as your throat gets torn open."  
>I open my mouth wide and slowly grasp at my core before forming a small ball of energy. 'What next? I always lost control at least partially at this point.' I carefully push against the power and it instantly reacts and erupts in a shock wave I direct to a wall. I grin as the attack creates a small hole. 'As long as I am able to stay in control this surely will be useful.'<br>I notice both Aken and Drak stare at me. I chuckle. "Hope this little demonstration helped."  
>The blue scaled dragon nods. "I think it did. You need a lot of control for a larger wave?"<br>Drak laughs. "No, but it helps not getting killed by your own attack, right?"  
>Our companion snarls. "I was aware it is possible to create a, how did you put it? Riskier, but more powerful version by casting of your instinct of self preservation."<br>I snap at both. "Stop it! I guess there are multiple ways to increase the power of any pulse. Stronger focus or more control should make it possible to use the energy more efficiently." Aken grins. "But as long as someone is can take a hit by his own attack without immobilizing himself simply excel the enemy's defense shouldn't be so bad either."  
>My brother grins as the Gabite growls. "Only problem would be if your poor control completely fails you in a battle and the underestimated drawback leaves you open for an unnecessary counter."<br>Drak shakes his head. "Playing safe isn't always an option."  
>I sigh. "This won't get us anywhere."<br>We all nod. After a moment of silence the Gabite shakes and walks outside. "We should continue our journey and use the few hours of clear sight left before it gets foggy."  
>We follow him and I glance around. "What makes you think it get foggy soon?"<br>"It's normal around here."  
>My brother laughs. "That's an extremely awful weather you got."<br>I prepare to stop the beginning verbal fight, but the blue scaled dragon does not look offended, he simply laughs. "Affirmative. But we gave up trying to change it, too high cost and in the end someone always didn't like it." He snickers. "The comity got dismissed and any weaker member eaten. Never tried it again."  
>Suddenly he stares at me. "You got a plan where to got, right?"<br>I flinch. "Why me? Hey, Drak, did you not take a look at Cara's map?"  
>The questioned one shakes his head. "It was only a glance and we left the road yesterday, I got no idea where on that map we would be by now."<br>The ground-dragon shudders. "Not a single hint where to go."  
>I grin. "I would like to evade any mystic spots. The giant mountain for example." Just like our companion said fog is starting to rise and covers everything, but the mountain remains visible as I motion towards it.<br>Aken laughs. "Mount Coronet? Yeah, I disapprove turning around and walking up there, too. So we try to stay on course south-east?"  
>"And try to walk around larger human settlement or place with mystic background."<br>The fog has risen surprisingly fast and I can barely look further then half a dozen feet. 'Why can't I get rid of the feeling we won't see much of Sinnoh. Caves darker then the future of an Abra teleporting in front of Drak, blizzard as intense as his hunger after a diet week and the weather changes seems to change faster then his mood.' I grin. 'I compared a region to my brother? That's almost egocentric.'  
>Aken has taken the lead and I notice he leaves a trail behind with his tail. "Mind to tell us what you are doing? Don't want to forget where we came from?"<br>Drak glances to me. "You noticed after all."  
>The Gabite shakes his head. "No. Don't you fear I could lead my clan towards us and they could ambush us?"<br>I snicker while Drak stays calm. "If that would have been your plan we and a t least a dozen members of your clan would be dead by now."  
>The blue scales dragon snarls. "You dare to underestimate m clan after I defeated you so easily in our sparring match? I am one of our weakest members, I wasn't even allowed to finish the training!"<br>My brother chuckles which seems to increase his anger. "I guess the final steps contain a lot of endurance training? Or suppressing pain? Resisting deadly conditions?"  
>I have to turn away and struggle not to laugh as the ground-dragon calms down a bit and glares at us. "You're right. Want a nice example? In the last rite the warrior receives a slash on his let arm, almost exposing the bone. The participant has to withstand the pain and is only accepted if he does not even twitch."<br>I shake my head while my brother spits onto the ground. "You tell us to minimize the damage we take in a fight, but honor the idiots almost killing themselves in their training and most likely fight with numbed nerves later? I see a tiny conflict in that."  
>The Gabite runs forward and tries to grab our throats, but I lean right and evade his claw while my brother breaks the hold by firing a dragon breath on his right arm.<br>As Aken takes a step back I wrap my teeth in ice and snap at his throat. He rises his left arm and intercepts my bite, but I increase the energy in my bite and feel he shakes as his arm freezes. He tenses and claws me with his right arm and jumps back as my grasp loosens for a moment. Drak snarls. "We wouldn't stand a chance against the proud fighters of your clan, huh?"  
>The Gabite shakes the frozen arm and tries to get rid of the ice around it. As that seems in vain he lets flames envelop his teeth and bites into it. He shudders. "I admit you're not as pathetic as I originally, but you would need a lot more strength to eliminate a guard."<br>Our opponent looks a lot calmer by now, but not free of all anger. We sit down and wait for his next attack. The ground-dragon leaps at us, both claws glowing in the familiar white light. I grin and we roll to the left, kicking the Gabite with all four in the process and launching him a few feet.  
>We stand up first and charge into Aken, pinning him to the ground. I look down and snicker. "Cooled down, hothead?"<br>He stops struggling and nods, if he hasn't given up yet he at least tries harder to hide his anger. "I won't attack you overhead again."  
>My brother shakes his head. "You won't say you will never attack us again?"<br>Aken pushes us off and laughs. "This Gabite will only attack you if it serves a training purpose."  
>I yawn. "We won't waste all day defining exceptions or what counts as training. Let's get going."<br>Drak nods. "A snack would be nice."  
>Aken grins. "Just evading to get lost in the fog should have a high priority." He looks to the ground and his grins disappears. "My mindless attack made me lose my trail. I fear if we continue now we might walk into the wrong direction."<br>Instead of answering we just walk forward. 'If we move we have to get somewhere. And getting somewhere else is better then staying here in this fog.'

We keep wandering aimlessly for a while, not sure how long exactly. I groan. "Should this stupid white mass not be gone by now? Feels lie we've been walking half the day."  
>Our companion laughs. "I told you getting lost in this weather is easy."<br>I barely avoid falling into a lake appearing out of the fog. Aken chuckles nervously and takes several steps back. "Did you not want to evade mystic places? And then you guide us to one of the lakes of legend?"  
>I take a sip of the water. "Why do you think this is a lake of legend. The water does not taste special."<br>I'm about to take a second sip as my shadow energy reacts and fills us with pain. Drak laughs. "Not special? You have a talent for finding these places."  
>I spit onto the ground and see my saliva turned blood-red. "I know, too bad we are allergic to all that fantastic things."<br>Our companion slowly moves closer to the water and takes a sip. "Ke is right, the taste is normal." The Gabite shakes. "It won't get boring following you."  
>We turn left and follow the lake while my brother groans. "We told you it wouldn't. Are the fish in there polluted, too?"<br>I spit onto the ground again before I snicker. "Polluted with mystical essence? Most likely, but even if they aren't we won't be able to dive in and catch a few, right?"  
>We're pretty lucky as an unlucky Bibarel runs out of the fog and almost into us. Our future snack freezes in fear and we step onto it, holding it to the ground as Drak bites into the chest and swallows the heart. The ground-dragon shakes his head. "Did you need to make it so painful?"<br>My brother growls. "Don't moan about every idiot we kill or how. Tomorrow he will be forgotten, no need to bother us with details."  
>The blue scaled dragon sighs. "I think if someone is stupid enough to stop dead in his tracks in front of two predators he isn't worth arguing about." I notice he shakes his left arm absentminded. 'Or at least not worth risking a new fight with us while my brother looks so hungry.'<br>I grin as two Bibarel and and four Bidoof appear and react like the other normal type. 'How can a species with such a stupid tactic survive? Hope the predator chokes on them?' I shake my head while we step closer. "Hunting these is pathetic. They could at least try to fight or flee. Weaklings."  
>The smallest one charges and leaps at us, bu Drak simply catches and swallow it in one motion. He grins. "It's not like thy would stand a chance even if they fought."<br>Aken grabs the Bibarel standing close to him and decapitates it with a slash before eating it. "I think their survival is assured by their taste. You have to be desperate to eat something with such a flavorless taste."  
>I grab a Bidoof, throw it up a few feet and swallow it as the snack returns. "That could be right, but after a day of stupid walking around without knowing where we go I think we qualify for being desperate."<br>The remaining normal types try to flee, but their escapes comes to a quick end as Drak snaps into the slowest Bidoof with burning fangs while I knock out the remaining Bibarel, no fun hitting such a lame target. The only snack left gets picked up by the blue scaled dragon and stabs by a stab in its throat by a claw. We finish our meal as the fog vanishes.  
>I glance up. "Wasted almost a full day walking around. Any idea where we are? Wouldn't surprise me if every third lake around here has some mystic power."<br>Aken shakes his head. "No, I only heard of three real lakes with legend about them and this has to be the Lake Valor, the other two are more or less on the opposite side of Sinnoh."  
>My brother grins. "At least we know our location now."<br>I glance to the lake. "Is there anything we should care about in the legend of this?"  
>The ground-dragon seems to blank out for a moment. "Legends won't help you survive out there, Aken." He shakes his head. "Nothing relevant for us as long as you don't plan to dive into the lake. But if you plan to avoid the lakes we should change our direction and walk west, the forth lake is said not to exist, but with your luck we possibly find it anyway."<br>We nod and change direction as the sun is slowly setting. I groan. "We should keep going as long as we can, if we get lost in in the stupid fog again tomorrow I want as much distance between to any lake as possible."  
>It does not take long before we are confronted with a new obstacle. Drak snarls. "A swamp? Are you trying to show us the wide variations of nature of Sinnoh or why did you tell us to take this route?"<br>Our companion and possibly impotent guide through Sinnoh bows. "I have to apologize, but this is they only way if we want to minimize human contact."  
>I look to the sinking sun. "I have to tell you I'm starting to hate Sinnoh, extremely." But we should keep going, the chances to find a cave in all this mud are pretty low."<br>We continue and quickly adept to the new environment, to stay positive. Wading so deep in mud every step is difficult, the dirt covering our scales and reducing our temperature and all this while nightfall led the Gabite to grab our tail not to lose us. Logically I feel a growing desire to freeze the mud and simply walk on it, but the exhaustion if I tried to do so and the fact the ground-dragon most likely would try to slash me into little pieces if he had to walk on ice make me suppress the idea.

By the time we leave the swamp the sun is rising again, I feel like we carry enough dirt to bury a Deino and our whole body aches, especially the tail. I snarl and yank our tail free. "Never do that again or I will bite off your claw."  
>Our burden of the last night takes a step back. "You made your point clear. I'm sorry."<br>We try to shake off as much mud as we can before we walk further south. It's late in the morning when we finally find a suitable cave and simply collapse onto the ground, Aken following close by. 'Next time we take the way around a swamp, that was worse then walking through a blizzard.'

End of chapter 17. Hope you liked it, comment if you like to.


	18. Chapter 18

"Come on, we can't rest all day."  
>I shake my head, our muscles ache as if they were on fire. 'We shouldn't constantly exhaust ourselves so badly.'<br>My brother murmurs. "Cut us some slack. We dragged you through a swamp, we need some rest."  
>I feel how Aken grabs our back and tries to lift us to our feet, but we simply sink back down. "Did you not want to train and get back in shape?"<br>Drak groans. "I'm aware of the difference between hard training and suicidal one, standing up and train now would be of the latter."  
>The Gabite hesitates for a moment before he lifts us onto his back. The blue scaled dragon coughs. "If you don't want to walk I carry you."<br>I open my eyes and look down, he's clearly unable to keep us off the ground for long as he takes several deep breaths and already starts sweating. "You know this won't end well."  
>Our companion stumbles a few feet forward and out of the cave. "It's not too exhausting."<br>I grin and press onto his shoulder. The ground dragon twitches and gets buried under our weight. Drak opens his eyes and snickers. "Yeah, it's not exhausting, it's only extremely depressing."  
>We walk off him and I carefully bite into into his neck and rise him to his feet. 'Fending off his attempts to get us going could be more exhausting then simply ignoring our sore body and giving in.' I sigh. "Let's go."<br>The Gabite glares at me for a moment. "I'm no whelp or kitten, don't carry me as if I were one."  
>I shake my head and look upwards. "The sun is already sinking again, if we want to get anywhere today we have to get going."<br>We continue our journey south and keep silent for a while. I break the silence after glancing around. "Any idea where we are? I think we left Sinnoh."  
>The Gabite nods. "I have to agree, this does not feel like Sinnoh." His head sinks down. "Strange, I felt lonely before, but not as strong as now."<br>My brother surprises me by slowing us down until we're walking next to Aken. "Don't worry, we still have each other, right?"  
>Aken does not respond, so I grin and nod. "Not bound by blood, but as close to being your clan as you can get for the moment."<br>There is still no reaction of the ground dragon for a while before he shakes his head, but relaxes. "Maybe you two are even better then my clan." He gulps. "I lied as I said I was the weakest fighter. They kept saying I would be, but I always managed to defeat my enemies, I only never accepted our reckless training." The blue scales dragon shakes his head again. "Why should I almost kill myself just so in my future fights I don't care if I die?"  
>The always present trees disappear and we look to a mountain, shining red in the sinking sun. Suddenly our companion opens his mouth and I notice a shining ball inside. The sphere pulses and the following shock wave hits the wall in front of us, creating a small hole. My brother laughs. "So our training continues tomorrow."<br>We quickly find a cave and the small, or maybe medium sized, attack of Zubat and Golbat serves as our meal for today. 'Why do these weaklings even try?' We lie down and soon fall asleep.

End of chapter 18. Hope you enjoyed and review if you like to.  
>"This is a joke, right? Come on, this is way to small for a real chapter!"<br>As long as nobody else complains I keep it this way and focus on the next chapter.  
>"And the worst thing is you had this lying around for two weeks, ready to get published."<br>I hate typewriting. Next chapter will be longer I promise.


	19. Chapter 19

I wake up as sunlight shines into our cave. I look to Drak and see he stretches. I grin. 'Quiet some time since we could recover so long.'  
>My brother notices me and snickers. "Yeah, it's nice to get some rest sometimes, heh?"<br>We turn to Aken as he yawns. "Since when can you read minds?"  
>Drak blinks in confusion. "Did Ke not say something?"<br>I shake my head. "Not one word." 'Only thought about it.'  
>Aken nods. "You were the first one talking. Don' start getting insane now."<br>I think I hear Drak, but it's strange, the confusion almost overlaps it. 'I'm not going insane, right? Wait, we were able to talk like this once.'  
>I snicker. 'But it's almost useless, it's not faster then talking and requires a lot more concentration.' "He might not be insane, at least not more then normally." I shake my head. "Anyway, did we not want to continue your training?"<br>The distraction works as the Gabite almost radiates of happiness. 'It's hopeless, he will always try to return to his clan, Ke.'  
>Our companion taps on the floor with his left foot. "I have the fire and pulse attack, what should I do next?"<br>I tilt my head. "Dragon pulse is small and unstable, try to extend the radius of the energy ball while reducing the power in it."  
>My brother leads our body out of the cave. "We get something to eat, this could take a while."<br>The Gabite grits his teeth and takes a deep breath. "Should you not help me?"  
>I grin. "Nah, you have to learn things on your own. We check your progress later, after our stomach is filled."<br>"Gluttons!"  
>We snicker and head to a nearby forest. 'Strange, why is it so quiet around here?'<br>After a few steps I can't get rid of the feeling we are being watched, but a steady wind shakes the trees and bushes, so it could be my imagination. Out of the corner of my eye I see something white quickly flying closer. I have no time to react and my vision turns blurry as the object collides with my head. "Ouch."  
>I try to shake off the blur and see our attacker, but can only make out a brown shape with a white mask, my headaches hinders assumptions. I hear a thud and my brother growling. "Idiot."<br>I turn and my vision has cleared enough to allow me to see the masked idiot grabs our left wing and tries to duck behind it while Drak uses dragon breath. Out of reflex we flap our wings and sent him flying over our back, the attack of my brother clearly missing. 'Beginner's luck.'  
>The Marowak lands in a bush and we quickly turn and leap after him while flames simultaneously wrap around our teeth. 'It could be a pretty bad idea to play with fire in a forest. As if we care...'<br>The ground type counters by swinging his bone left handed at me, but I evade by retreating my head. The momentum of the attack ends on Drak's throat as he bites into his arm, quickly ending both moves.  
>Our opponent takes a step back and we tackle him. He hits the ground and rolls backward, but we swiftly jump and push him down again. The Marowak tries to bite into our right leg, but his range is too short. I look down and snarl. "Not so brave now that we are face to face, huh?"<br>In response he simply growls angrily.  
>My brother laughs. "A silent hunter."<br>Our captive bites into our left leg and rolls out, my brother snaps after him but misses. As soon as the ground type is standing again he slams his now glowing bone into Drak's face who in response spits blood into the face of our enemy.  
>Our opponent shakes shakes his head as he tries to clear his vision again. 'Looks like he is seeing red now. Duck.'<br>My brother lowers his head and I grasp at my core and release a beam out of my mouth. The ground type drops to the floor and my attack only grazes his back. Drak moves his head closer to the fallen and snaps at him, but the Marowak rolls on his back and swings at the attacker. My brother grabs the bone and launches our victim up who holds onto his weapon. Our body turns and I freeze my teeth and prepare to cool our pray a bit.  
>Coming back down the ground type tries to slam the bone against our heads, but Drak interrupts him by headbutting the object, leaving our enemy defenseless pretty much directly in front of my teeth. I wrap my teeth around his body and feel his struggling decreases to mere twitching. I throw the Marowak to the ground and he rolls out of reach before getting up and stumbling away. I grin. 'Not fast enough.'<br>Quickly I grasp at my energy and form a sphere of energy in my mouth. I try to split my focus between my attack and the target before releasing the shock wave. The dragon pulse hits his back and throws him forward and back down, but the concentration on my rather unstable attack seems insufficient as fragment of the pulse sear my mouth. I shudder, shake my head and spit red saliva on the ground while my brother groans. "Not again."  
>As I look up to the Marowak again he is back up on his feet and tries to walk away, more accurate it's a mix of stumbling and staggering, he only stays up because he uses the bone as a crutch.<br>The escape comes to an abrupt end as we run after him and tackle him down again. Drak leans closer and snickers. "Don't flee so hasty."  
>The ground type seems to be totally exhausted, unable to even try to struggle free, as he lies there limp. My brother bites into his neck and I hear bones shatter while Drak throws his head back. I look down and grin. "I guess we earned us this snack."<br>My brother rips out a chunk of meat before he nods. "Yeah, but it's way more fun if a meal fights back." He shakes his head and snickers. "It's always in vain, but especially the last moments, when they realize they are as good as dead, are so satisfying."  
>We finish our meal, leaving nothing behind, and continue our walk. I glance around. "I hope we find something for Aken before he finishes his training. He did not look too happy we left him alone."<br>Drak shakes his head. "Come on he has to learn to train and survive without someone constantly telling him what to do." My brother looks down for a moment. "He admires his clan and their rites, despite his conflicts with some of them. "He looks back up. "As long as you don't plan to mess with his mind somehow he won't be able to accept any advise we give him that contradicts his old lessons."  
>I shake my head. "That won't be necessary. I'm sure he will tell us if he does not understand something and we can reason with him."<br>Drak looks like he wants to respond, but stops us on the small way we follow for a while now without saying a word. 'I think I heard a snack for our companion approaching, Ke.'  
>We don't have to wait for long as a Gardevoir runs into us. The psychic type seems distracted as tears flow down it's face while it mumbles to itself. "Why did he leave me behind?"<br>Before she gets a chance to react we step onto her. I shake my head. "I see you have eyes, you should have used them instead of blindly running around, maybe relying on your psychic senses."  
>No response, she seems frozen by fear. My brother ends her suffering with a quick bite into he throat before throwing her on our back. "Quick, we want to deliver fresh, right?"<br>We laugh and run back to the cave. The sun is about half way sunk again as we reach our resting place. I hear a pretty angry sounding growl as we set a foot in the entrance. "Why does it not work? Drakke has to use some sort of trick, simply stabilizing the energy is too exhausting to achieve an useful result."  
>We step further in and Aken turns around, finally noticing us. Judging by the searing marks around his mouth and claw markings on the walls his training did not turn out very good. He snarls. "Tell me how you do it. How do you change the energy in an attack with so little signs of fatigue?"<br>I tilt my head and grin, slightly confused. "What do you mean? There is only one type of energy and forming it in a move defines the attack. I only change the way I use the power, not the resource of it."  
>For a short moment the Gabite looks like he will try to slash us apart, but after a slow, deep breath the ground-dragon calms down. "You form your moves last second? Did nobody tell you it is easier and less exhausting to do so before touching you core?"<br>My brother laughs. "No. And I wouldn't call it touching our core, more like grabbing it and dragging out the power."  
>The blue scaled dragon sighs. "I thought the brute force way of handling energy did disappear long ago. No wonder your attacks, especially the stronger ones, almost feel feral."<br>Drak snickers. "We won't fix something that is not broken. As long as we can keep up longer then our enemy it's sufficient."  
>Aken sits down and stares to the floor. "And I will not change how I use my power, even if that hinders me learning your move."<br>We sit down next to him and I shake my head. "How long would your protection need to last anyway?"  
>"Less then half a day should be sufficient to prove the method to my clan. Why do you ask?"<br>I grin. "I hope I don't point out something too obvious, but did you already try to use a Yache berry?"  
>The Gabite throws a glare to Drak. "No. Why did we not try that method first?"<br>My brother coughs. "Because I thought you already tried it, it's pretty obvious after all. And building up a resistance is safer then relying on an external source of protection." He snickers. "At least out of your control desiring position that sounded right."  
>Our companion tenses up for the blink of an eye before calming down again. "I see. I appreciate your idea to give me a more controllable way to deal with my weakness, but I would like to use the faster way, so my return to my clan happens as soon as possible."<br>I slowly nod. 'It has to be nice to have a place you can call home.' "Change of plan then. We look for the berries, check if their effectiveness is sufficient for you and if it is we look for a method to return to Sinnoh."  
>Drak shudders. "I bet we end on a ship to Snow point and have to walk through a blizzard." He turns to Aken. "You owe us an extremely nice meal if that happens."<br>The Gabite nods. "If the berries work and get me through a blizzard I will happily personally catch you something delicious."  
>I turn my head. 'These psychic types weight next to nothing.' I throw her in front of the blue scaled dragon. "Before we forget about it, here's a snack for you."<br>Aken quickly checks his food. "Only one bite to kill it? It ran into you I presume. And you brought it here without feasting on it, I was unaware that was even possible."  
>My brother rips off a chunk of meat and gorges it down. "I suppressed the urge, but if you insist..."<br>The Gabite steps back and drags the food with him, out of our reach. "Glutton. We continue our journey after I finished my meal?"  
>We lie down while I shake my head. "No, we should rest, there's no use stumbling around in the dark again. We continue tomorrow."<br>Aken slices the Gardevoir into small pieces before eating her and I feel Drak struggles not to get up and steal a few pieces, but our companion finishes his meal before my brother loses his fight. We lie down and wait for our sleep. 'Enjoy the peace, Ke, only Arceus knows how long it will last.'  
>I grin. 'Peace? It even feels like an unstable truce, but yeah, we should try to use it.'<br>I slowly drift off into my sleep.

End of chapter 19. back to normal size I guess. I got myself a bit of help for the fight against the Marowak. Okay, it was less voluntary, more like talking and dragging until my school comrade had no chance to escape. Anyway, if the fight feels better then the previous ones I give credits to him. On the other hand if it is awful blame me. Anything else?  
>"He's lazy, so if you don't feel like writing a review it's fine. But If you think about commenting, a short note how the characters and their relation to each other fell would be appreciated a lot."<br>Yeah, as much as I like if someone tells me to keep the story up, it does not help me define if you get the right impression. I' only sure at one point I managed to show Drak as unable to friendly approach anyone.  
>"Which was your aim?"<br>Correct.  
>"Grr, thanks for that."<br>I like a bit twisted figures and hope my readers share that trait. But if I am too subtle and you don't pick up the important parts of a character some things I plan for the future chapters won't work or seem odd. On the other hand if someone thinks I explain too much...  
>"You write too much beneath the chapters."<br>Besides the seemingly oversized parts beneath a chapter if someone thinks I overdo a particular part of the story I might consider reducing it.  
>I hope you enjoyed the chapter, feel free to question things you did not understand.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

"No, yes, I have to... But I should at least say goodbye to them."  
>We are carefully shaken awake by Aken. He avoids eye contact and looks like he did not sleep well, or long. "I have to apologize, but I have to bid you farewell."<br>It's still pretty dark outside and I'm not really fully awake, so it takes me a moment before I realize what he said. "What? Why? Don't you trust our plan?"  
>The Gabite hesitatingly shakes his head. "No, I'm sure it will work. But I got told to find a way on my own. If you help me any further my victory will be nullified." The blue scaled dragon stares to the ground. "I want to be honest, I almost fear your help this far might have tainted any possible success."<br>My brother groans and spits on the ground. "Great, so blue scales will try to start from square one again. What a waste of time." He turns away and lays his head on our back again.  
>I carefully look to Aken and notice he struggles not to attack. The Gabite turns around and glances back. "I'm truly sorry it has to end like this, brother."<br>I nod as he walks out. "Let's hope our reunion will be more joyful, brother."  
>I don't know if he heard me, there is no reaction and he quickly leaves my line of sight. I try to nap until dawn, but sleep flees me and I sigh in relief as the first rays of sunlight shine onto our body. The bright light does not last long, moments later it dims down and we hear the steady sound of raindrops.<br>Drak moves off our back and lightly pushes against me. "I told you he won't accept our help. Looks like we are simply not destined to have company."  
>I do not respond, not willing to do so and listen to the rain.<br>My brother laughs. "Listening to the falling water? Closest thing to a lullaby we will ever hear."  
>I'm still not willing to answer and stand up and walk to the entrance to look out. It does not look like the rain will stop anytime soon, so I step out, unwilling to waste a day in the cave. I sniff and glance around, but all tracks of Aken are quickly washed away.<br>Drak groans. "Pretty unlikely we could follow our ex-companion in this weather."  
>I grit my teeth, but remain silent.<br>"Don't want to talk? Whatever, be that way."  
>I did not plan to follow the Gabite, but evade the direction he choose, and I'm able to smell he has gone south-west, even though only barely. I don't like the idea to walk in the complete opposite direction, but trying to stay east should minimize the chance of a too early reunion. I start walking into a south-eastern direction while the rain continues to pour down, leading to two immediate, and annoying, results. First, we are totally drenched, but as we are no pathetic weakling that's rather unimportant.<br>Second, the dull, constant drops lead to me mentally looking for other things to focus on.  
>Strength. We can't train our body and hope stronger attack simply appear in our head. Combining techniques works, at least most the time, how could we get the most out of that? I try to concentrate, but the rain is really counterproductive. Anger rises and I suppress it, focus back to a possible stronger attack.<br>To get the strongest combination we have to use our strongest attacks I guess. Dragon pulse? I slightly shake my head, no, too unstable.  
>Shadow aura? I shudder, depending on our opponent it does work rally well, but it takes a lot out of us and some enemies almost seem immune to it. If we could simply project our own wounds and intensify those we would be unstoppable. I snicker while Drak looks at me questioning. Or at least close to being so.<br>"Need any help? You look like you're totally lost in your thoughts."  
>I sigh, distracting myself with stupid circling around how to get stronger won't help anyone. "Not sure if anyone could. I was thinking about shadow aura. It's strange to use an attack I'm not fully aware how it works."<br>My brother grins and nods. "I know how you feel, couldn't figure out dark pulse myself, but that does not hinder me knocking out enemies with it." He sighs. "No, that comes close to a blunt lie. I know it works based on my emotions and memories, somehow extracting the darkest elements and forcing the enemy to suffer on them." He shakes his head. "But why? I survived, it hardened me, should the others not react similar?"  
>I grin. "Thinking about it, shadow aura only feeds on past events, they already did overcome the injury, despite that pushing them back to relive it seems extremely effective."<br>We remain silent for a moment before Drak laughs. "How about we try to mix our two attacks? Maybe we can push someone into our suffering?"  
>I nod and grin, a bit talking to my brother surely leads to interesting results. "We only need a volunteer to see the reaction."<br>Drak shakes his head. "Don't jump if you don't know if the ice could carry your weight. We should try if we can pull off the move first, you don't want to disappoint our victim, right?"  
>I blush a bit before grabbing my core and empowering the shadow energy in our body. Familiar pain fills me, but I easily suppress it and wait for my brother to activate his pulse. After a moment a mix of fear, anger and agony assaults my mind and the control of my move almost slips me, but I focus on the calming presence of my brother and steady my aura again while his pulse mingles with my attack. The combination only last fractions of a moment before a sudden new pain destroys my focus and my attack collapse simultaneously with Drak's.<br>I snap back to reality and stumble as I notice a drastic loss of blood. I look down while the surroundings start spinning around me. Our red scales have opened up and our blood spills on the already wet ground. I glance to me brother who appears to be in a similar struggle to stay conscious.  
>We collapse on the path, a strange numb feeling slowly replaces the pain as the last bits of the world are swallowed by the pitch-black void.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

"I want to get the first bite!"  
>"Wait! Maybe it's still alive."<br>"Don't be such a coward, sis. A dragon, covered in snow, alive? Looks like this weakling is lying here for quiet some time now. Even if we ignore the obvious wounds, unlikelihood of survival beneath the snow and the lack of reaction it showed up to this point, it would have did by hunger or thirst, or do you see its tracks?"  
>I feel weak. I glance to my core. I do not only feel weak, I am weak, my energy shrank drastically. I try to remember where I am, but get distracted by something chewing on our leg. To tell the truth, it barely hurts, I'm wondering if whatever it is does even pierce our scales.<br>"Stupid scales, thought they go soft after a while."  
>Pathetic, I have to focus only to stay awake and that wanna-be-predator can't get through our scales.<br>"It could be fresh. Or not dead! Get away, you idiot!"  
>"Don't start that again. I prove to you it's dead." Something opens my mouth and something warm is placed within it. I think I found the winner for the stupidest-thing-someone-ever-did-award. "See? It's totally harm..."<br>I close my mouth and feel blood dripping on my tongue. I hungrily swallow the head while the second unknown Pokemon cries and flees. Slowly opening my eyes I see the decapitated body of a Charmander in front of me. 'Sometimes you got to love natural selection and how it deals with those unworthy.'  
>I move my head forward and rip out a huge chunk of meat, almost choking on it, while my brother shudders and opens his eyes. "How did we survive that? And leave something for me!"<br>He grabs the right arm and tries to pull the body closer, but I bite into the other arm and drag into the opposite direction. Any logical thinking, for example it does not matter who eats the meat, is disabled by my hunger and need for blood. We keep fighting for what feels like an eternity before the loser becomes obvious.  
>The Charmander. He rips into two halves which we quickly gorge down. We finish at the same moment and I finally get the chance to think about what happened and possible results. There were two Charmander, young ones, maybe two weeks maximum. We ate one, the other fled. How long does it normally take until a Charizard separates from its whelps? The quickly increasing sound of flapping wings points to longer then two weeks. Curses.<br>We take several steps back as the flying-fire type lands with a thud and roars at us. "How dare you kill my first born? I will scatter your ashes in the wind, extinct your descents and feed my daughter with them!"  
>I gulp. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I got no descents."<br>She leaps towards us, using her wings to go faster and we barely evade getting sliced in two halves by rolling out of the way. I admit, I'm intimidated, not only by her size, but by her raging anger leading to her literally heating up, melting all the snow within six feet.  
>Drak shakes his head. "Come on, the idiot placed his head in Ke's mouth, that's suicidal."<br>The Charizard shakes her head and I think I see a single tear which instantly turns into steam. "He was too young... And now you try to tell it was his fault? Die!"  
>The last word is accompanied by a wave of flames hitting us. Our scales are severely seared and we fall to down, unable to get back up. The female look down to us before flying away.<br>I glance to Drak. "I did not like that smile. It will get worse, right?"  
>"Did she look like she would let us go? Of course it's not good!" He sniffs. "I hate the odor of Drakke in flames."<br>We get interrupted by the return of the Charizard carrying a Charmander in one claw and some strange purple goo in the other. The fully evolved fire type spits in front of us. "Call yourself lucky, this will most likely be the most useful thing you ever did." She turns to her daughter and her voice softens up. "Remember how I told you never to eat this, honey? I'm going to show you why." She turns around to us again and roughly opens my mouth. "Open wide, worm."  
>The purple thing gets slammed into my throat and I have to swallow to avoid choking on it. On second thought, choking might have been a good idea as I notice poison flooding our body. Every bit of energy I have left seems to drift out of my reach and my head falls to the ground.<br>"See, cutie? It's poisonous and would kill you in less then a day." The Charizard grabs my head, lifts me and slowly cuts downward my throat, not deep enough to kill me, but awful painful. Why does she always pick me?  
>"Poison makes you unable to correctly touch your core, very strong Pokemon can suppress it enough to stand up and look for an antidote like the Pecha berry, but weaklings like this one don't have that option." I get dropped again and the two fire types leave.<br>My brother coughs. "Any smart plans?"  
>I try to nod, but can't get up. "Survive. If that winged..." I stop as a violent cough ends with me spitting blood. "Believes we would die so easily I plan to surprise her."<br>Drak laughs sarcastically. "You think it's so easy to withstand poison? As long as no idiot throws a Pecha berry into one of our mouths we won't shake it off that easily."  
>"You talk like you experienced something similar before?"<br>"Mother once gave me something poisonous, to show the effect. I felt awful the whole day, kept vomiting and she sent me to look for the berries on my own. Later I bit into a Seismitoad which was covered in that stuff. Not sure how I got it off."  
>I focus and feel the substance weakening our body. Strangely some other, unfamiliar power keeps pushing it out, extremely slow, but noticeable. Relying on instinct I strengthen the pushing energy and feel the cleansing speeds up, even though I can't ignore the minimal energy left in my core after doing so. My vision starts to blur, but the result of all poison lying in a separate outer layer of our skin is worth it I guess. I sigh in relief while darkness overcomes me. "Maybe we have a chance after all. Your turn."<p> 


	22. Chapter 22

POV Drak

After making sure our link is steady I carefully get us onto our feet and lift Ke on our back. He never ceases to surprise me, where does he always get these ideas?

We are weak, and that's something I'm adamant to change as soon as possible. I feel our combined attack, I will talk to Ke about it, but "Blood Pulse" sounds like an appropriate name, will help us with that.

I step forward and struggle to stay awake. Using our core to feed our body has taken its toll, so I have to use my wits to catch something. And no playing with our meal, we will need every tiny bit of energy we can.

I stumble forward, we have to leave, if that insane Charizard gets us she will make sure we won't stand up again. I shudder and try to quicken our pace, only to fall down. I get back up and slowly move toward the nearby forest.

Entering I feel like I'm being watched while the twittering birds instantly start to get on my nerves. I mimic limping and further slow my pace, if someone does not attack me on sight, but keeps an eye on me there's a good chance I can win a direct confrontation if I can lure him out.

"Come on, see that? He's even limping. And imagine how the others will respect us if we tell them we killed a dragon!"

"I guess you could be right. And if we can't win escaping will be easy."

"That's the spirit! Let's go!"

Two Rattata jump out of a nearby bush and rush toward me. I'm not sure if I should laugh or groan. Even in this weakened state I'm way stronger, simply by mass advantage, and judging by this pathetic excuse of an ambush also way smarter. But they are also so small, I'm not sure if they are worth eating. Anyway, meat is meat, so I prepare myself by shifting into a better fighting stance. Small changes like a minimal different stand of my feet, nothing these numbskulls could notice.

The slightly smaller one slows down. "Why does this suddenly feel like an abysmal idea?"

The second fool gets no chance to reply as he dashes into my reach and I waste no time swallowing him in one piece. There is only a tiny struggle before his body and core dissolve and I feel my energy replenishing, a bit at least. The remaining normal type turns around and tries to flee, but I leap forward and stomp onto his tail.

I grin as he starts begging for his life. "Please, let me go. I'm sure we can come to a solution which could satisfy both sides."

I simply send him the same way as his friend and sigh in relief as the enervating feeling of emptiness in our stomach vanishes, even though there still is a lot of space left. I continue my walk into the forest, pure luck leading me to a river.

I look into the water, but can't find a single Basculin. I miss Unova. I try to shake off the weakness and wade into the water before taking a sip. I notice a trail of blood drifting from our scales. I shake my head again, I should be swarmed by predators by now. A Magikarp swims against us, seemingly trying to swim trough us. I step to the side and let it pass, I'm desperate, but not that desperate. They are so low in the food chain, a bit deeper and plants like Sunkern would try to eat them. Poor species.

I grin as a Goldeen tries to follow the mentally handicapped fish, most likely to attack with its horn. I bite into the tail fin and throw it out of the water and against a tree where it gets struck with its horn. I watch the struggle to free itself for a moment and snicker. "Thought I would let everyone pass?"

I step closer and close my teeth around it without wounding it, yet. The Goldeen radiates a feeling of agonizing panic and I try to enjoy it as long a possible. "No time to play, sorry fishy."

My jaws snap shut and the water type freezes in fear. I quickly swallow.

Still nothing great, but superior to the Rattata. Where to now? Ke seems to have wanted to keep us in a southern direction. Maybe we can find a haven, scare a few humans and get back to Unova.

Suddenly I hear something coming closer and hide in a bush, to the best of my abilities, I mean, red, blue and black colors are not really my definition of camouflage in a forest. Luckily the human who is appearing is distracted by talking to his Venusaur. "So, what do you think about that guy from Unova? Silent, as far as we know has stopped collecting badges..." The trainer receives a small vine whip. "I know they say he got banned until it is clear if his training methods were legal, but even if they were coming back would be extremely hard."

The poison-grass type shrugs. "Why did they think about that anyway, I did not notice any markings."

"Because you almost instantly fall asleep if I try to show you one of his fights. They fight like they are obsessed, especially the ice thing, how did they call the species? Vanilluxe I think."

The Venusaur laughs nervously. "Oh, I think I remember her. Froze the Venusaur of Erika until it shattered after he mocked her about her possible taste." He shudders. "Damaged beyond repair, right? What an overreaction! I hope don't end like that. Let's hope we never have to face them... Did you finally find where we are?"

The man growls. "I told you the tech is defect. And I have no idea where on this stupid map we could be. Don't like him, huh? What about the girl of the desert?"

"Worse. Dangerous. Besides her two dragons every member of her team is insane, not even the trainer seems to be able to control them. For example the Gardevoir, slamming a Gyarados so hard to the ground it tries to flee? That's nuts.

On the other hand, that sadistic attitude of the Garchomp is even more terrifying. Could we not rant about some weakling instead of these freaks?"

I leave, who cares about an idiot who makes his fifth attempt to beat the league with an almost fresh team except his starter. That thing alone should stomp most of his opponent. Pathetic.

I get interrupted by a Kadabra teleporting in front of me, one palm wrapped in ice. "It's not nice to eavesdrop."

My response is simple. I bite of the hand, take a step back as he swings his spoon at me and watch him glowing purple, most likely trying some psychic trick. He might be stupid, but the energy focused in the fist was large enough to make cautious for a moment, and hungry for more. The glowing stops and he glares at me. "Hey! How do you manage to look so cool after eating that much ice energy?"

The fool gets distracted by his own, awful, joke and I tackle and pin him to the ground. I lean closer and smile. "Don't exhaust yourself, I want every bit of power I can."

I bite into his chest and feel his pulsing heart against my tongue. I rip it out and show it to the dying joke. "At least nobody can say you were heartless, fool."

The last bits of life leave him as I swallow the organ. He does not taste very good, but his power filling our core makes up for that. My feasting gets interrupted by a vine hitting our left side. "Back off our partner!"

I turn my head and see the Venusaur and trainer from before. Snarling I get ready to defend my meal, no idea why they should care, the core already shattered, there is no way he could recover. "The snack is mine, start looking for a replacement."

The next incoming whip does not surprise me and I bite into the tip of it. Our core is sufficient replenished for a small fight, so I only use a little bit of energy to set the vine on flames before letting it retreat. The reaction is a satisfying growl of my enemy. "You have no chance, I live to fight!"

He dashes toward me, but underestimates the resistance of the trees and gets slowed down to a disappointing speed. Clearly normally only an arena fighter. I easily jump to the side and fire my dragon breath at his flower. "You might live to fight, but my sole purpose is to kill, worm."

I get distracted for a moment as the human throws a Pokeball against me which seems to scan me before it returns. That looked kind of pointless. I glance to Venusaur, judging by his shocked expression he did not expect that as well. I have no idea why that did not work, but I think it's best to end the fight and don't give them a second chance, so I tackle into the side of the plant, jump on its back and wrap my teeth in ice before freezing the flower.

It's always fascinating how quickly an effective attack can drain the power of someone, no matter how powerful he is if there is no defense.

"Shake him off, buddy!"

I step to the head and glance down. "Nah, he won't shake anyone off anymore." I use my ice fangs again and keep the energy up until there is no sign of resistance, or movement, left. "Rest in pieces. Or was it rest in peace? I'm not sure. Whatever." I stomp onto the Venusaur and watch it shatter beneath me. Turning back to the human he taps on multiple capsules, seemingly unsure which to pick.

I ease his decision by barely missing him with a dragon breath. "Leave, the next attack won't miss."

The human is a lot quicker then I expected him to as two balls fly toward me, one retreating the grass type, the other colliding with corpse of the Kadabra before returning without an effect. Out of pure luck he is able to duck beneath my beam and runs off.

I finish my meal, it's a pity, the majority of the energy did already leave it, and continue our journey in the direction of a small mountain. I easily find a cave and fall asleep.

End of chapter 22. Hope it's not too stretched like this.


	23. Chapter 23

"He shall fight for truth!"  
>"No, he is on my side, he stands for dreams!"<br>Up until this point it feels familiar, but I feel a third presence who seems to prefer remaining silent. I decide to play along for the moment. I growl. "I'm on nobody's side. Who are you?"  
>As I open my eyes I see a black and a white shape. 'Not again.' The third one has to stand behind me. The darker shape moves closer while glowing blue marks illuminate the body. "You're an Unovian, you have to choose, there is no third side. I'm Zekrom."<br>The lighter shape shoves him back, red marks visible on its body. "I don't like to, but I have to agree, you are not allowed to stay neutral. I'm Reshiram."  
>"Are you nagging my brother like this as well?"<br>Like every dream before both growl and nod.  
>"You should not talk to these two jokes, they did not even come to you personally. How rude. When the time is ready you will be aware of your position, there is no choosing."<br>I turn around, but can't see anyone. "Mind to tell me your name?"  
>"Not of any importance for you, young one."<p>

I wake up as the sun shines onto our scales. Who was that third voice? The two shapes already made no sense, but that new voice even made it worse.  
>Ke seems to have recovered, so we continue our journey, deciding to follow the mountain eastward.<br>We walk until the sun reaches its zenith before we reach a town. Beneath the typical, for me totally useless, letters which should show how the city is called, is a colorful poster of a ship with various species I only remember from Unova. A human steps next to us and looks at the poster. "A contest? Here in Kanto? And the first price is a ticket to Unova? Sounds great." The man seems to notice us for the first time. "Does that poster remind you of home? Try participating, they wrote wild Pokemon are allowed and get a guaranteed one-day-catch-protection."  
>Ke tilts his head.<br>"No, I have no idea why they would do that, probably some idiot with too much money wants to enjoy a good show." The human walks into the city mumbling to himself. "That one looked rare, too bad I'm out of Pokeballs, and Pokemon..."  
>The location of the tournament is easy to spot. Large building, an extremely large poster over the big door and the most obvious one, a guy screaming in front of it. "Come on, we have one spot left, does really nobody else want to participate?" We walk closer and see he talks to a small human. "Sorry, boy, but no matter how great your Rattata is, it would get slaughtered."<br>I grin and we walk past the two, enter and sit down in front of the bar. The woman on the other side quickly glances around before turning to us. "A wild one, huh? I have to warn you, there are some strong participants already. And a few freaks. You don't care?"  
>We grin and nod.<br>"Fine, but I warned you. In you go."  
>We enter the next door and freeze for a moment. I did expect a lot of participants, but this mass surprises me.<br>'If everything goes as planned for them it will take days until this is over.'  
>I grin. 'So we will look for a way to speed things up.'<br>A four-armed, brawny idiot catches my eye. I'm no specialist, but the green skin does not look as if it is the natural color for the species. The strange Machamp poses in front of a Gardevoir who seems to be extremely annoyed. If I hear something getting thrown around, colliding with the walls, it will most likely be the fighting type. Seems atypical for the psychic species to be so short tempered and brutal, but her angry glare would even scare off an Gyarados.  
>"You see, I'm almost completely immune to pain. I can knock out a Steelix without breaking into sweat. Once I won a fight while both of my knees were ripped open to the bones."<br>The Gardevoir yawns, except for annoyance I see no emotion. I turn to a bunch of evolved Eevee talking to each other. "Did you hear of that crazy ice type from Unova?"  
>"Of course. Poor Venusaur. Why?"<br>"She will participate."  
>"I hope I don't have to fight her."<br>"For crying out loud, you're a Flareon, she would stand no chance!"  
>Three human walk in and ask everyone's name, species and trainer. After answering you are allowed inside. "Name? Species? Trainer?"<br>Ke grins. "I'm Lou and his name is Lou. We are Zweilous. No trainer."  
>We enter and see the contest is already going. An Umbreon bows and leaves the podium. A human walks onto the stage. "Next is..." He turns and whispers to someone in the back. "Götterdämmerung." The man grins. "I wasn't aware he was still alive. You get the chance to watch a true legend, appreciate it. The illusionist!"<br>We sit down and watch the stage. 'Some freak wants to play games with our mind? And the humans enjoy it?!' I shake my head, control is... important, a central part of being sentient and the two-legged ones throw it away for a bit of fun. Go figure. I grin. "Wanna bet how many are gonna moan about headaches after the show?"  
>Ke tilts his head. "A tenth maybe? He wouldn't be that famous if he did a bad job. Nobody likes pain." He hesitates for a moment. "Or only a very small minority."<br>An old, overweight Hypno steps on the stage and look around with a wide smile. "Ready for a show which will make you question what is real?"  
>'Not really. How about you, Drak?'<br>'Nope. That guy is old. I'm sure he tastes awful.'  
>I glance around, the humans nod, the introduction worked, somehow. On the other hand, they always seem easy to manipulate. The psychic type starts swinging the metal thing around while talking in a slow, over-dramatic voice. It would be rude to start laughing, right?<br>"You're getting tired."  
>'Nope'<br>"Your eyelids are becoming heavier and lowly sink down."  
>'Boring. Why does he not skip this?'<br>'How about being patient? Just once?!'  
>I sigh. 'Are you in any way interested in what he says?'<br>'No, but everyone else listens to him, so we can get a cheap shot if you would stop joking around.'  
>"Your eyes are closed. You see a wide plain field..."<br>I glance around, everyone else is standing around with closed eyes and facial expression vary between horror, excitement and bliss. And extremely strange combinations of these. Beside the Umbreon, he has fallen asleep. The "painless" Machamp seems to be dwelling in the illusion, too.  
>"And Giratina wraps around Palkia, slowly trying to choke it while..."<br>'That could be fascinating if we knew any of them. Who is Dialga? Anyway, did you find a nice target?'  
>I nod. 'the four-armed fighter does look like he would enjoy a more nightmarish dream, right?'<br>My brother grins. 'Yeah, that much bliss can't be healthy. Mental or physical pain?'  
>"And shadow covered the battlefield as Cresselia falls down, smashed by Giratina and Darkrai..."<br>'Let's try both.'  
>We sit down next to our target and prepare to strike, but a sudden yawn interrupts us. One of the jurors speaks while still half asleep. "We all know that legend. Try something new."<br>The time limit is already up, but none seems to care. The Hypno coughs nervously. "Of course. I planned to show this in Unova, but maybe some of you already know their major legends. Reshiram and Zekrom?"  
>They sound familiar, but that's strange, I don't remember mother telling any legends. The audience shows no reaction.<br>"Kyurem, the frozen dragon?"  
>Ke twitches, but nobody else, including me, knows anything about that one. 'Let's hurry up, Drak. Looks like his show is over.'<br>I quickly grab my core and extend my dark pulse, but only keep It up for a few moments. The attack works surprisingly well on the fighting type.  
>'You can't suppress emotions so easily in a dream, they have a too big impact.'<br>We duck and Ke wraps the Machamp's knees in a shadow aura. I can't stop myself from grinning, his posing about pain immunity and old, long forgotten injuries in front of the Gardevoir was really useful.  
>We quickly back away to our old place next to the Umbreon while the almost bare bone of his knee can't keep the fighting type up and he collapses on the floor with a quickly extending puddle of blood surrounding him.<br>The following cry of pain and anger finally silences the Hypno who has started a new story about four ponies, or something on that line.  
>"I will get you for this, worthless dark type!"<br>Ke mimics the Umbreon who is slowly getting up from his nap. "Who is he talking to?"  
>I yawn. "No idea. Umbreon?"<br>The dark type blinks in confusion. "Huh? What's going on?"  
>"Machamp called you worthless."<br>We further back away as the Eevee evolution puffs up his fur to look bigger and dashes toward the other wounded idiot. "What did you call me?!"  
>We reach the door as a Flareon and Glaceon follow the Umbreon as backup while the black Pokemon has started a small war by tackling into multiple other Pokemon on the way to his enemy. A Gardevoir silently steps next to us.<br>The fight seems to be growing in size as the sound of battle increases and most humans run out of the hall.  
>"Taking out your opponents before the real fight? Smart. You could be a good leader." Every word seems to be exhausting for the psychic type, as if she would struggle to stay calm.<br>Ke tilts his head. "You can talk? But you don't do it commonly. Why now?"  
>She clenches her fist and looks like she wishes to run in and kill someone, but instead moves closer to us. "Your presence. Calming, but confusing. I met purified ones before, killed them, but you do not feel as if you were purified. Or still a shadow. Weird, but good as company. To relax?"<br>I shake my head. "Great, we are an oasis of peace for shadows. That's your fault, Ke."  
>The battle calms down, only the Umbreon keeps attacking the Machamp who has little choice but to defend and hope for help. By the time the Flareon and Glaceon finally decide to stop them the fur of the dark type is more red than black and the fighting type is so covered in bites and cuts he won't recover in time for his show.<br>One of the judges walks on the stage and clears his throat. "This inconvenient interruption robbed us of a lot of time, so we have to disqualify everyone who has participated and did not already stand on this stage."  
>The Umbreon snarls, even though he did already perform. "But we did all fight!"<br>"No, the dragon over there." The judge points to me. "And the Gardevoir next to it weren't in it. And that Unovian ice type has to stay in her room, so there are three shows left to enjoy. Anyone who is not OK with this should leave now." He shudders. "Who wants to get the ice type?"  
>The Gardevoir raises one hand, the other one resting on our back. "I would, like to." She swiftly turns to us. "Another weird presence. Like a shadow, but with another focus then fighting. I wish to find out what it is. Excuse me."<br>I can't move. Cream? I hope Ke has a plan.  
>"Judging by your reaction you don't want to meet your old teammate? Don't worry, we will simply sit in the back row, as long as she loses before we have to fight her everything will turn out nicely."<br>He grins and I calm down, a tiny bit at least, while we sit down in the last row.  
>My nerviness returns as Cream enters the room and directly hovers to the podium before glancing to the audience. "I'm only here to get a cheap way home after almost two months of looking for... a friend." Her mask of angry uncaring breaks for a moment and I see hasn't given up yet, but is extremely close to her breaking point. "I will try to show you what brought my team so far, but I can't guarantee the safety of anyone who makes fun of it."<br>The mask is back on and I hear several gulps while she creates the sculpture of a Seismitoad and a large thorn in the blink of an eye. "Divided."  
>The frogs gets thrown and impaled. "United."<br>My brother grits his teeth. 'Harsh.'  
>I nod.<br>She rams the lower part of the spike and it collapses, leaving almost nothing behind. "Fragile."  
>A new sculpture appears. It resembles a Deino, but something on it seems wrong, tainted, but I can't pinpoint it. The Vanilluxe carefully presses against it. "United."<br>She unwillingly hovers away. "Divided."  
>An ice beam connects ice type and ice sculpture. "Not fragile."<br>Cream bows and leaves.  
>A judge slowly steps onto the stage. "That was... unexpected." He clears his throat. "Next is..." He turns to someone behind him. "Rika."<br>The Gardevoir walks onto the stage. "Hunt."  
>Her self-control seems to be weakening as she speaks. Her eyes start glowing in a purple color and we twitch. I feel as if her gaze goes through us.<br>Suddenly a series of images appears in my mind's eye together with a feeling of envy and hatred. Every picture shows a Pokemon, none of them in any obvious relation.  
>'They were all purified, Drak, and hunt down by her.'<br>I gulp. Now that Ke, mentioned it, they all have something in their eyes that seems to tell they were in hell and back, and would die before they would get back there.  
>The show ends as the psychic type bows, taking several deep breath. She steps next to us. "I once showed talent for telepathy, but I was never allowed to train it."<br>Ke shudders. "Once?"  
>"Before I was... ready."<br>We are called onto the stage before we could continue asking the Gardevoir.  
>Ke gulps. 'Are you sure that will be enough?'<br>I grin. 'We don't have a choice, only our good looks won't win this. And our heat aura is safe and our most useful unique move, yet.'  
>Ke grits his teeth as we step on stage and turn to our audience. "Some people believe hell will one day arrive on earth. We will try to give you a first taste."<br>I extend the heat aura and steadily increase the temperature while flames wrap around my teeth. I continue heating up the aura while my brother starts growling, promising searing pain without saying a single word as fire envelops his fangs. The first grass and ice types start to back away.  
>We slowly stride forward, the air around us dancing in the heat.<br>'Ready?'  
>'Go!'<br>We roar at the audience in unison while I give up control of the shell of our aura and a heatwave erupts from us and bathes the room in heat. A few little flames dance on our body. We bow and leave the stage while a few weaklings glare at us.  
>We sit down in the first row, which funnily does only consist out of fire types. A Flareon nods and grins at us. "Nice. You're no fire type?"<br>I shake my head. "No, we only like to stay warm."  
>"I hope I get a chance to show you my fire."<br>We look back to the stage as the pairings for the quarter final are showed on a wall. The Umbreon, Moonlight, has to fight against Kino, a Medicham. Creamy will fight the Flareon, Flare. We get to fight the Hypno and Rika, the Gardevoir, will most likely slaughter a Drapion with the name Bale. We are about to leave and get ourselves a meal as the Hypno raises his hand. "I give up, a journey isn't worth fighting that thing."

End of chapter 23. First of all I'm sorry for any reader who understands German and got hurt by the really awful Lou-joke, but I couldn't resist, I'm weak, I know. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, the fighting will start next chapter. I wouldn't mind getting a few reviews. Ouch. Yeah, I stop begging now.


	24. Chapter 24

POV Ke

The first round was boring. It was really pathetic. The Medicham was so slow, he had no chance against the Umbreon and his shadow ball. Rika annihilated the poor poison type, she seems to have no problem ignoring dark type immunity against psychic attacks. And the Vanilluxe froze her enemy. I'm not sure who we should be more afraid of as final opponent. The Umbreon on the other hand does not seem to be a too big threat, not enough power behind his attacks.  
>We slowly walk onto the stage where the dark type is already waiting for us. "What took you so long? You're late."<br>Drak grins. "We had a small discussion with the cook about the amount of food someone could eat."  
>I snicker. "But after depleting every dish we could find it seemed time to give you your fight."<br>Moonlight shakes his head while his fur puffs up. "You want to fool me? You thought we would all give up like your first pathetic opponent, and now you try to delay this as long as possible. Fight!"  
>The fur ball dashes toward us while a black sphere forms in his maw.<br>'Evade, endure or something more fun?'  
>'Breakfast was nice, let's give them a little show.'<br>We leap forward and I grasp my energy and form a ball in my mouth before releasing the shock wave. Our opponent counters by shooting his shadow ball which stops the dragon pulse for a moment before getting pushed back and explodes.  
>Smoke covers the field, guess it is the over-dramatic one as it wobbles on the stage. But that's no help for the Umbreon as he still smells like blood, making him easy to spot. The dark type tackles into our chest, so I bite into his neck and lift him up. My brother moves closer, but stays out of reach. "Wait, where's the fun if nobody sees us? One final clash, covered in smoke, leaving only one person standing. Possible, but not after our first attacks."<br>The smoke lifts and I drop the object in my mouth, a substitute.  
>'Looks like we underestimated him a tiny bit.'<br>I sniff. The blood is on the decoy and above us. 'Double dragon breath?'  
>We hit a new decoy while the dark type drops and hits us with a shadow ball. Weak. That's the fastest way to describe the attack.<br>'Oh, the pain! I feel as if we would fight an Eevee after a Magikarp diet. Fast, almost impossible to hit, but weaker than a Sunkern. Fake weakness?'  
>We slow down and start doing some stupid mistakes like temporary dropping our defense. The reaction comes pretty fast. Despite the toll it takes to use substitute the Umbreon dashes toward us with a metallic glowing tail. 'Not even a neutral attack? He wants to embarrass us, huh?'<br>As soon as our opponent comes in reach and flips to hit us with iron tail we drop our act and I bite into the tail while Drak grabs his neck. Judging by the noises the dark type produces my brother uses a lot of pressure on his neck while we pull him apart.  
>"I give up!"<br>I let go of the tail and Moonlight drops down and slowly crawls off the stage while we bow.  
>"Winner are Lou and Lou. Next fight..." The judge glances to the big cards on the wall. "Rika versus Cream. Who wants to get these two?"<br>A Vaporeon is ordered to get the Gardevoir while a Glaceon volunteers to talk to the Vanilluxe.

The Vaporeon returns first. It runs back to its place while the psychic type slowly walks to the podium. I'm pretty sure no matter who her target is, there never was any mercy, and most likely never will be. And to be her beacon of light isn't that great either.  
>We don't have to wait long for the ice types.<br>"I think I understand, but you have to admit, it's weird." The cold quadruped smiles and rushes to the first row while the Unovian ice type hovers in position for the fight.  
>Like in their previous fights there is no waste of time by some chatter, both simply attack.<br>Ice beam collides with thunder bolt while both grit their teeth. 'Looks like Cream does not only have the will to win.'  
>It starts hailing while parts of the furniture fly toward the ice type who manages to evade.<br>As the pieces try to hit her for the second time a blizzard howls through the room, shattering any flying object, including a table above our head.  
>Most parts of the audience have fled by now, but the broken table hides us, so we don't have to worry about the Vanilluxe detecting us. And both fighter seem focused on the battle.<br>The duel has taken a more physical form as the ice type tries to take down her opponent who counters with small psychic blades. The ice type takes severe damage, but appears to heal almost as fast, so that only small wounds remain. And even though the Unovian never hits, the hail and evading seem to wear the psychic type down.  
>As the fight goes on both sides reach a point where only their will seems to keep them going. The hail stopped moments ago, but the Gardevoir does not look like she would notice, focused only on the Vanilluxe who is held in a psychic grip. The psychic type walks closer, almost staggering and falling each step she takes. She coughs. "No more hiding..."<br>A black aura surrounds her left hand as she walks closer, slowly forming into a spike. As Rika reaches her enemy she slowly reaches out with her right hand and pets the ice type. "Good prey."  
>I only notice a small sting, but it seems to be enough to knock out the Vanilluxe.<br>"Winner is Rika."  
>We shake of the table and the shadow stares at us for a moment. "Worthy opponent?"<br>There is no time to respond as she blacks out directly after the question.  
>'Insanity triumphs over obsession. Is that good or bad for us?'<br>'There never was a good outcome. Let's get dinner and take a nap, we will need every bit of energy we can get.'

End of chapter 24. Are my fights getting better or worse? I can't decide, but I think I'm unable to show you the full show. Like always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	25. Chapter 25

"Get up, Lou! One more victory, and you can be back in Unova."  
>I slowly nod while my brother grins. "Same rules?"<br>The human shakes his head. "No. You're allowed to unleash living hell this time if you want to. There won't be an audience, we will watch through cams. Rika's last fight made us... reconsider our safety measures."  
>'What's a cam?'<br>'Who cares?! We can get home!'  
>We follow the human to the fighting room and get pushed in. "Good luck."<br>They did not clean up yet, the crushed tables and chairs are lying around on the ground, only the stage is somewhat clean. The Gardevoir is already waiting on the stage, arms crossed in front of her chest and eyes fixating us. "I got told to wait until you are in position."  
>'It might be a bad idea to anger her, Drak.'<br>'You might be right, but she looks pretty calm at the moment.'  
>Drak is right, she looks a lot calmer, despite the bloodshed. Or maybe because of it. As we step in position her small grin vanishes and she grits her teeth. "No mercy."<br>We get lifted off our feet as her eyes start glowing. At least for the moment I don't feel like being airborne, so I grasp my core and use dragon breath. Despite the perfect hit on her chest the psychic type does not even flinch and steps closer, the black thorn in her hand. "No games."  
>A dark pulse extends from our body, breaking the psychic attack and pushing her back a few inch. Drak grits his teeth. "No show? You go directly for the kill? How boring."<br>Rika hesitates for a moment before returning to her battle stance. "Boring?"  
>I nod while flames envelop my teeth. "Yeah, did you never enjoy a fight?"<br>We run forward and I duck beneath her swinging spike before biting in her left arm. She drops the thorn and the object scratches my neck before dissolving.  
>We jump back as electricity covers her body and discharges on the spot we were moments ago. "Fight over. Shadow poison."<br>I quickly look at our power, but there does not seem to be any damage or alien substance on or in our body. I grin. "Nope. Don't worry, everyone fails sometimes."  
>She flinches, but quickly returns to her confident appearance. "Impossible. Only have to wait."<br>We dash and tackle into her. Drak laughs. "You should consider changing your tactic."  
>Her following thunder bolt misses us by a few feet and I have to snicker. "You're abysmal if it comes to adapting to new conditions."<br>She growls and uses thunder bolt again, missing even worse than last time. I shake my head. "The coldblooded huntress can't believe someone can withstand her attack."  
>The Gardevoir steps forward and grabs my head, growling furiously. "You don't understand. Not even other shadows can ignore the effect of this." She rams a new thorn in my throat before Drak bites into her right arm.<br>I feel shadow energy entering our body, most likely resulting in extreme pain, fast weakening and possible decaying, but our flesh is already filled with my own power seems to absorb it. There's the for me normal ache of that kind of energy hurting our flesh, but at this point it feels more annoying than painful.  
>I shake of her grip and bite into he left arm, but she uses miracle eye and psychic to get us off and launch us into the first seat row, or what has remained of it. Drak growls. "Stop throwing us around, it's worse for the furniture than for us."<br>'Would it even matter for the furniture? It's a mess anyway.'  
>'Maybe it stops her. It's worth a try.'<br>The Gardevoir looks at us puzzled. "Does it not hurt?"  
>I tilt my head. "Getting thrown around? Could be worse."<br>The psychic type glares at us. "Your body should be nothing but bare bones! You're..."  
>We interrupt her by leaping on the stage and snapping at her throat, but she takes a few steps back. Next an arc of electricity connects our bodies and we slightly bow down and cough. 'I told you not to anger her.'<br>'It's not my fault! She's insane.'  
>The Gardevoir steps closer while we twitch and grabs one of the red scales on the right side of our chest before her eyes start glowing and we get thrown backwards. Pain runs through our chest. She grins and holds up the scale. "Defense weakens, red scales."<p>

POV Drakke?

'She will suffer. No holding back!'  
>We extend our grasp around our core and let the power fill our body. Power. We grin while pain starts twisting our vision and hatred completely fills our minds. Our wounds rip open and we leave a trail of blood as we walk closer to Rika who switches between looking slightly scared and relaxed. "The poison works."<br>We jump forward and bite and hold her right arm while we shake our right head. "No, that's nothing your pathetic attack induced."  
>Her eyes start glowing, but there is no further impact. We bite into her stomach and pull on a long flesh string before she slams onto our head and pulls her arm out of our grasp. She takes several steps back and takes a few deep breaths while she presses her left hand onto the wound on her stomach. "You changed?"<br>We grit our teeth. "No escape."  
>We run forward, but our prey sidesteps and evades our tackle. A thorn enters our left side, but we absorb the shadow energy and respond by extending a dark pulse. The psychic type flinches and tries to distant herself from us.<br>'No escape.'  
>We follow and tackle her to the ground while the pulse envelops her. We bite and further rip open her stomach wound while her resistance fades away. "I give up."<br>We growl. "No escape."  
>We feel a concentration of shadow energy beneath her organs, so we dig into them before taking a bite of the power. An ice beam interrupts our feasting before we can devour all of the energy and our body collapses. Darkness. We drift away.<p>

End of chapter 25. Grand final for the contest, huh? I hope you enjoyed it.


	26. Chapter 26

Pain...  
>"Are you sure it was the right thing to declare the dragon as victor?"<br>"He did win the fight."  
>Pulled apart...<br>"And almost crippled the Gardevoir even after she gave up. I'm surprised she did not die. And her scream did sound..."  
>"Agonized? As if she would rather wish to be dead than to live on? I agree, it did sound pretty cruel."<br>"How long will they stay unconscious?"  
>"Judging by exhaustion and wounds at least a week. But if we take in account their strength they should be conscious at the moment and able to move tomorrow. Correct, Lou?"<br>The link breaks... we blank out.

POV Ke  
>Pain. I feel as if my mind was finally complete and got ripped apart.<br>And our body feels as if we would lie on a bed of roses. Without the petals, but with extremely long thorns piercing our skin. I slowly open my eyes and groan. "Where are we?"  
>A human steps in my sight and bows down, but stays out of my reach. "Awake again. You're on a nameless ship toward Unova."<br>"Nameless?"  
>"Why bother giving it a name? It's the only one I own, so it can't get confused anyway. You're aware of the chaos you created?"<br>My brother opens his eyes and sighs. "You will explain it anyway, right?"  
>The human grits his teeth. "Indeed. Let's start with Rika, her injuries were your most immediate fault after all."<br>Drak growls. "We bit into her a few times, that can't lead to extreme problems."  
>The man shakes his head. "No, it's not that easy. You somehow injured her, you call it core I think? We managed to repair the damage, but some strange substance left her, leaving her in a trauma, only saying she is useless now. As you can imagine her trainer is... angry about that turn of events."<br>I snarl. "We won't regret defending ourselves." 'Even though I think we lost it for a moment.'  
>'But it did not feel wrong.'<br>The human nods. "I already expected that. Next is Cream. You did not actively hurt her, but throwing you off the psychic type seems to have triggered something in her. Broke down almost immediately after doing so. That of course leads to the second trainer wanting to see you punished, or at least caught and brought under control. There are more, but I think these two have the best chances to actually get you."  
>I groan. "And you tell us all this because?"<br>The man grins for the first time. "I appreciate a strong fighter and even more if he knows how to entertain in a fight. The Unovian guy would most likely only use you in gyms, which would be a waste as I can't act like an obsessed fan and follow you around. And only Arceus knows where you would end if the girl gets you. So I offer you an alternative. You get all training, medical attention and food you wish for, but have to attend in my contest once in a while."  
>We slowly stand up and try to ignore our aching body while Drak growls. "Do we look that stupid? There's more behind it, right?"<br>The human stands up, raises his hands and steps backward. "You're a bit paranoid. Don't act so rashly. I really only want to see you fight for the moment, and you can leave any moment if you think it's no fair trade for you. How about this, you can try my offer for a month without having to participate in any contest. If you think it's worth a bit of fighting you tell me, if not you can simply leave." He shudders and grits his teeth. "Unlike some other idiots I can see potential if it shines out of someone. And you shine brighter than anyone I saw before, I can almost feel your future power." He sinks to his knees and holds out a hand. "Let me help you achieve that power."  
>My brother grits his teeth. 'I hate long monologs, why does he not cut the act?'<br>I slowly move closer. "Why?"  
>The strange human stands up shivering. "If I can't become powerful myself I at least want to help..." He shakes his head. "I wish to assist you in your pursuit of power. Accept my offer, my gift, or leave as soon as we reach Unova, I won't waste any more time trying to talk with you."<br>He leaves and we lie down. 'That was... weird. We can't trust him, that's for sure.'  
>My brother nods. 'We shouldn't trust any human. But the training could be worth considering. If it fits our needs.'<br>We keep lying for a while before getting up and tackling the door.  
>Instead of breaking down the door slowly swings open, revealing a Deino who seem to have taken a nap on the other side. "Welcome on this ship! I'm from Unova and it's my duty to tell you about all the great things it has to offer!"<br>We grin and look down at her while she slowly shakes her head and yawns. "Took your time to leave the cabin." My grin widens as the other dark dragon finally looks up and flinches back. "A Zweilous? Why did nobody tell me our guest is a Zweilous?" The dragoness seems to scan us. "Already got your share of fights, huh? And judging by the wounds lost most of them... Want to see our medical room or the buffet first?" She sniffs. "Or maybe the bath?"  
>Drak grits his teeth. "Medical room? Because of this few scratches? We're not that weak. Food would be nice."<br>The Deino shakes her head. "Few scratches? I saw stronger Pokemon collapse, unable to move any further, after a few of these scratches, as you called them, broke open in a fight. Mind to tell me how long you are injured like this? A few hours? One or two days?"  
>I tilt my head. "I'm not totally sure. About a month or two I guess?"<br>Judging by her fake smile she does not believe me. "Clearly... I'm Sori. What's your names?"  
>I try to smile, but fail miserably. "Lou and Lou."<br>The one-headed dragon coughs. "Seriously? You might deceive a human with that name, but not me. "She moves closer. "Come on, your real names. I won't tell anyone."  
>My brother snarls. "No. Drop it and lead us to our meal."<br>She turns around and starts walking away. "I will stick to a nickname until you tell me the truth, Lou sounds stupid. Red scales maybe?"  
>We jump forward and put our left foot on her back while Drak bites into her neck. I growl. "If you want to survive the trip to Unova you better choose a different name."<br>The Deino groans and slowly nods. "Understood. How about Dragoon? Nice and unspecific."  
>My brother releases her and we take a step back. "Dragoon? Sufficient."<br>We walk to the meat without any further interruptions.  
>After sating our hunger, what's the chance of meeting a cook Drak doesn't start a discussion about the importance of mass versus quality, Sori wants to show us the training area, so we follow her into a large hall, almost stuffed with various machines.<br>Our guide seems to be quick if it comes to forgiving, or at least she does a better job hiding her anger than for example Aken. "So? This ship has pretty much anything you could wish for to train your strength, right?"  
>Drak looks around and shakes his head. "No, it lacks a worthy sparing partner."<br>A Salamance lands in front of us. "You did call for me, whelp?"  
>He grins while my mood drops faster than a rock type in free fall. I snarl. "I'm no whelp."<br>We run forward and I try to bite into his throat, but he jumps to his right side, evading my attack.  
>Bad luck for him my brother takes the chance and grabs his left wing. His scream of rage and hatred as Drak rips a hole into the wing might sound a bit intimidating, but for me it's like music.<br>The flying dragon shakes us of and furiously tries to slash us. His aim seriously lacks if he enrages, and I won't talk about how easy to evade the wide swinging attacks are. 'Did he even just once fight like this before?'  
>We get sloppy and receive a hit onto our chest, throwing us a few feet back and leaving us coughing. 'He might be imprecisely, but he packs a punch if he hits.'<br>As I look down I suppress a laugh, he directly hit the old wound. Makes our mistake hurt a lot more than necessary. The Salamance has calmed down a bit, looking more angered and annoyed than as if he truly wanted us dead. "You're still standing? With all these wounds?"  
>I spit a bit of blood onto the ground while Sori laughs. "You numbskull only hit them once or twice, you're strong, but you should try to hit a few more hits to knock out anyone."<br>I grasp at my core and form a ball of energy in my mouth while our opponent roars and flaps with his wings. My brother grits his teeth. "Is it not a little bit too late to pose and intimidate us?"  
>The idiot dives toward us, but I stop him with a small shock wave. The attack throws him backward, into a pool where he screams and curses us, extremely explicit to say the least.<br>We walk closer and I take a sip. It's almost freezing cold, which explains why he has cooled down while trying to get out. 'Could he not try to fly?'  
>My brother shakes his head. 'I'm no expert, but the hole would most likely further extend and he could crash back into the water. And that would be even more painful I guess.'<br>We sit down and wait while the Salamance leaves the water, would be no fun finishing him off while he is unable to defend himself.  
>As soon as the winged dragon is back in position we use dragon breath, to kick him into high gear again so to speak. He evades by rolling out of the way and tries to counter with blue glowing claws. I duck under the swing while Drak bites into the right claw. Ice wraps around my teeth before I grab the left arm.<br>The Salamance pulls back and we drag into the other direction before simultaneously letting go. My brother snickers as our opponent struggles not to fall over onto his wings and back, but stops as our fatigue starts to pull us down.  
>We step to the left as the winged dragon leaps at us and ram into his side, trying to push him to the ground. Despite his weakened state the Salamance is able to fend off our attack, leaving all participants in a clash to overwhelm their opponent. I grit my teeth and focus on my energy before extending my shadow aura.<br>Our resistance trembles as I have to split my attention and the flying dragon uses the chance and pushes us to the ground, stepping onto us while my attack wraps around him. Blood drops on our stomach, but the Salamance continues to fight, attacking my brother with his right claw while holding us down with his left one. My aura collapses as the upkeep gets too overwhelming for me, but we manage to throw off our opponent and stand up as the sudden end of the pain made the winged worm relax for a moment.  
>Sori steps in between us before anyone has the chance to strike again. "Stop it!" She turns to the Salamance. "I know you are stubborn, but you can't go on forever by pure will! Don't get yourself killed in a sparring match, idiot!"<br>I grin as our opponent collapses after her screaming, but stop as the Deino turns to us. "And how dare you almost kill yourselves while I'm responsible for your well being?! If you want to show off with that aura at least wait until you're halfway recovered. Follow me!"  
>Our guide leaves the hall and we struggle to keep up while our body demands a rest. By the time we arrive at the medical room I focus only on Sori and walking forward, everything else has blended out.<br>We enter and simply fall down after less than half a dozen steps, familiar darkness engulfing me.  
>"Did the boss not tell you to take good care of them?"<br>"I did! These two are suicidal!" I hear a sigh. "If this keeps up I will be set into the wild again in less than a month, if I'm lucky." I feel teeth getting pressed against my ear. "You're strong, why did you not evolve yet?"

End of chapter 26.


	27. Chapter 27

I feel something trying to come close to me, but a cage of ice forms around me and extends, pushing whatever it is away. I grin, I don't remember who taught me this trick, or why, but it's great to keep my sleep calm and uninterrupted by stupid messages.  
>My surrounding turns blank again.<p>

I wake up and feel someone is leaning against our right side, sleeping by the sound of it. I open my eyes and see the Deino has fallen asleep next to us, her head lying on our back, close to our heads.  
>A small push and she flinches back, blushing as she notices where she is. I grin while Sori jumps back and looks around. After a moment she has calmed down and takes a deep breath. "You're pretty warm in your sleep."<br>I continue to grin and my brother snickers, somehow resulting in her glaring at us.  
>"What's so funny? Get up, hot scales, we don't want to waste all day and your large ego should do a good job shielding you from any immediate harm."<br>She leaves and we hurry to follow her while I blink in confusion. "Our ego? Why do you think our ego is large?"  
>The dark dragon does not stop running, does not even turn around. "If you are able to heat up yourself like that you won't be hindered by a bit of cold water. The numbskull one the other hand was helpless in the pool, it would have been easy to defeat him there, but you allowed him to get back out."<br>She quickly looks back to us, seemingly scanning us again before looking forward again. "You're strong, but you prefer to play with your enemy, even if you don't know how strong they are. That shows your ego has to be almost as big as the one of our boss. Just look at this ship! All important areas are scattered, making every day on here filled with annoyingly long walks!"  
>Sori shortly laughs. "At least that should help reduce your weight, you're heavy for your size."<br>My brother coughs. "Did you just call us fat?"  
>We reach the food room and the Deino turns around with a grin. "No, I would never dare to say that. Lemme guess, it's all muscles? Despite your habit to gorge down anything edible in sight?"<br>I shake my head in disbelieve before we carefully push her to the side and start our breakfast.  
>Setting the large wooden spoon the cook was swinging at us yesterday ablaze seems to have brought him to a realization as the quantity of food has greatly increased while the quality is still near perfect.<br>After the meal we enter the kitchen, resulting in the cook taking several steps back. "Don't eat me! I'm already using more than I'm allowed to."  
>I grin while my brother slightly bows. "Don't worry, we're here to tell you it was enough food this time. Keep it like this and you won't see us again."<br>The human relaxes and nods. "I will try. As long as the trip does not take longer than expected the rations should be sufficient."  
>Next we follow Sori to the training hall. 'She's right, all this long hallways are annoying.'<br>We enter and my brother laughs. "Who is our next victim?"  
>I glance around, no arrogant dragon around. The Deino coughs. "Sorry, no powerful opponent around for you. The Salamance did push himself way over his limits, so he needs at least four days to recover."<br>She moves closer and pushes against us. "If you're lucky there will be a round two in Unova, but not on this ship."  
>We take a step back, but she follows with a grin. "If you want to train, I would be happy to help. I'm sure we will find a nice toy in here to have some fun with."<br>We sigh and further walk into the hall, Sori staying close to us. I look at all the different things, but none of them seems extremely useful. "Any suggestions? I don't know a single one of these."  
>Our guide nods. "Well, you don't need to increase your resistance against ice, right, hot scales?"<br>She snickers and we blush, I'm not sure why. "You're physically as strong as the Salamance, I think it's safe to say there is no priority increasing you on that."  
>We nod and try to get a bit of distance again, but the dark dragon almost seems to stick on our body.<br>"We could further test how strong your defense is. "She rubs against us. "But I would rather not add any more scars."  
>We receive a lick on our scar on our chest and jump backward, but our guide, and at least for me also a bit of a tormentor, I'm completely confused, walks near us again.<br>"Got any problem, hot scales? Maybe we should leave all these toys out of the training and do it more naturally and basic..."  
>I gulp while the Deino seems to wait for something, but the moment passes and she rams us. "Tag! You're it!"<br>We sit down while Sori runs away. 'Got any idea what we should do?'  
>'Not a single clue, Ke. Guess we have to ask her.'<br>She stops and turns to us while I tilt my head. "Mind to tell us the rules?"  
>The Deino laughs for a moment, but the laughter quickly turns to awkward and she stops as we remain silent, simply sitting on the ground in total confusion. "You really don't know? What did you play as a whelp?"<br>My brother nervously laughs. "Does kill and survive count as a game?"  
>It stays silent for a while as Sori stares at us.<br>"So it does not count? A pity, I think we're talented in that one."  
>The dark dragon slowly shakes her head. "If this is meant to be a joke, it does not work."<br>We shake our heads and I grit my teeth. "Sorry, no joke. So, are you going to tell us what to do or not?"  
>Our guide nods and grins. "Of course. It's pretty easy, whoever is it has to tag or somehow else make contact with the other players." She coughs. "Or other player in this case."<br>My brother slowly nods. "Easy enough. Are attacks allowed? For example dragon breath?"  
>She shudders for a moment before the grin returns. "We should stick to an attackless version." Her grin widens. "Or do you want to hurt me, hot scales?"<br>We blush while the Deino snickers. "And now you're it. Try to catch me!"  
>We dash forward, but Sori evades with a roll to the left and runs away. 'She's fast.'<p>

I'm not sure how long we keep up the chase, but it's long enough to make me gasp for breath as we finally manage to push against her hind legs.  
>We sink down while the Deino turns to us and snickers. "All these... muscles slow you down, huh?" She steps closer and snickers. "Did you already consider training your speed? Your prey might outrun you if you're not careful." The Deino turns her back to us. "No wonder you're so scarred, you're unable to evade with that speed."<br>We swiftly get up and jump forward, pressing her down to the ground. I grin and carefully bite into her neck. "First of all, we're not that slow, especially if we jump or roll. Second, we don't need to be extremely fast, it's way more fun to outwit an enemy."  
>I lightly nibble on her neck, resulting in a moan. Confused, again, I let go and we release her.<br>Sori seems to hesitate for a moment before getting up out of her submissive position.  
>I lean closer and grin. "You asked me why we did not evolve yet, but even if you're only half as strong as you are fast you should also have evolved."<br>My brother nods. "I don't know why, but I'm unable to feel even a tiny bit of that strange evolution energy in us, might be our luck and we somehow drained it and are unable to replace it. How about you? Do you suppress your evolution?"  
>The dark dragon shakes her head before turning away. "No."<br>She runs out of the hall and we hurry to follow her, it would be really bad to lose our guide here.  
>We finally catch up as Sori stops in front of the food room. She grins. "A small snack before we call it a day?"<br>We enter and notice a Rattata running into the kitchen.  
>"They eat multiple times per day?! I'm doomed!"<br>My brother snickers. "Don't worry, one of these small, normal as you call them, portions is enough!"  
>Sori snickers and pokes into our side. "It's amazing you're able to convert all that food into something else than fat."<br>Drak shakes his head while we sit down next to the first dish. "It's pretty easy once you know what to do."  
>The dark dragon moves closer and snatches a bite. "Really? Did you already teach someone else how to do it?"<br>I grit my teeth and shake my head while my brother continues to gorge down the meat. "No... I guess we're not talented in teaching people. You need a special point of view about energy and how to handle it to learn from us. And our... last student made it pretty clear our methods are unique, inferior to the normal ones as he said, so it's unlikely you would want to learn them."  
>Sori's head sinks down and she sighs. "We could at least try, right?"<br>I nod and grin, trying to cheer her up. "Of course we can try." I lightly poke her side. "But you don't need the technique, you're a featherweight anyway."  
>I think it worked as the Deino slightly blushes before stealing the last chunk of meat from Drak. "So it's set, my first lesson is tomorrow."<br>My brother seems about to bite her, but changes his mind and simply grins. "But you will owe us something if it works."  
>The dark dragon grins and gives the scar on our chest a lick, making us jump back, again. "Anything, hot scales."<br>We gulp and she snickers before guiding us to our cabin. There's a large bad and various other stuff, but we ignore all of it and lie down in the center of the room, Sori sitting down a few feet away and watching us.  
>I snicker. "Come on, you keep telling us we're warm, but don't want to fall asleep next to us?"<br>My brother grins. "It would make you waking up on or leaning against us a lot less awkward if you fell asleep in the same position."  
>The Deino hesitates for a moment before she nods and moves closer to us, leaning against our left side and lying her head on our back. "If I end here anyway I might as well enjoy it." She blushes and snickers. "Good night, Dragoon."<br>I grin. "Sleep well, Sori."  
>My brother smiles, exposing his fangs in the process. "Have a nice rest, you might need it tomorrow."<br>We quickly fall asleep.

End of chapter 27.  
>"Why do I think I missed something this chapter?"<br>Nah, nothing important. And for anyone who fell asleep while reading, but kept scrolling down to here, don't worry, you did not miss a fight.  
>"Starting to go soft on us?"<br>As long as you're unable to spot unicorns you're not through hell yet. And even after that I most likely won't include them.  
>Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was certainly nice to go rather easy for a bit.<br>"You're starting to overdo the post-chapter stuff again."  
>Sorry.<p> 


	28. Chapter 28

"Hey! I'm back! And I brought a book, how to decipher prophecies, with me."  
>I groan and blink in confusion. "Should the cage not keep you out?"<br>The Natu grins and hops up and down. "Nah, a cage only keeps out powerful vision, old prophecies, that stuff. Weaker beings like myself can slip through." He stops for a moment. "How did you learn to create one by the way? A cage needs a lot of control and an elemental one also a connection to the element. And you're no ice dragon, right?"  
>I growl, I really hoped I could sleep in peace with the cage. "If only weak and totally unimportant visions get through, why should I listen to you? To get rid of you is no reason as it obviously does not work."<br>The annoying bird twitches. "Hey, I'm only here to help you. Should you not care a bit more about this thing?" He gasps for air before rising a book bigger than himself.  
>I shake my head and snarl. "Are you really that stupid?! I can't read, so it's useless for me! And I won't let you ruin my sleep by visiting me every night!"<br>The psychic flying type has brought a more or less safe distance between us. "And if it could help you on your adventure?"  
>I tilt my head. "Adventure? For Arceus sake, we're just on a journey to find a home! There won't be any great legend told about our life, we're trying to stay out of any possible historical important event! It's more likely our life could get summarized with they were born, they killed stuff, they died. End of the story!" My head sinks down and I sigh. "Fame only gets you in trouble, please, leave me alone."<br>The Natu nods, or it could be a bow, I'm not totally sure. "I'm afraid fate has planned something else for you, but I will try to stay out of your way for a while. I'm sure you will find a way to contact me if you change your mind."  
>He vanishes and I fall into my dreamless slumber again.<p>

I wake up as something rubs against our side. I slowly open my eyes and see Sori grinning at us. "No deep sleep, huh? A pity, I'm missing out on a few great pranks like this."  
>My brother responds with a wide smile, exposing all his fangs. "It wouldn't be wise to play pranks on someone stronger. Even less if that person should teach you something."<br>The Deino stays on spot. "You wouldn't hurt me, right, hot scales?"  
>Drak does not react and I let a bit of ice wrap around my teeth before I laugh. "It would be short and painless."<br>The dark dragon flinches back, showing first signs of fear. "That's not funny." She shakes and gets up. "Should we start with the lesson or breakfast?"  
>My brother grins and opens his mouth, but then stops and hesitates for a moment before shaking his head. "Depends on you. Our technique can be pretty exhausting, so it would be beneficial if you're perfectly recovered. If you think you're ready we can skip the meal."<br>Sori nods and walks out. "I hope I'm ready. Let's start with the lesson."  
>We follow her to the training hall and sit down while the Deino nervously walks around us.<br>I tilt my head. "The worst part will be to get started. Basics first I guess?"  
>My brother shakes his head. "No, that would be only theory, and we already know that won't work, besides being boring. Let's try a kick-start." He points to a wooden figure of a Pikachu. "Attack it with a dragon breath, we need to know how you handle your core."<br>Sori looks at us in confusion for a moment before releasing a beam and hitting the target on its chest. We step closer while the dark dragon grins. "That was too easy, hot scales."  
>My brother grits his teeth. "It wasn't supposed to be a challenge. Do it again, but don't hold back this time."<br>A second beam hits the figure, decapitating it. For the blink of an eye I felt as if I could feel the energy traveling through her body, but it was extremely weak. I slowly nod. "Good, but I think you can do better. Try to be more rough. Less refinement, more raw power."  
>Sori shudders. "If I use my energy in an even more raw way I might be unable to handle it."<br>Drak snarls, but quickly turns it into a smile. "I'm sure you will be able to retain in control."  
>The third beam makes contact with the target and shatters it. I grin as I was clearly able to follow how the attack built up. I give her a small lick, if she thinks we like that she might like it as well.<br>The Deino blushes and grins. "Did that mean it was correct this time? It felt weird to use all the energy."  
>My brother grins. "It wasn't perfect, but you should have a rough concept about how the energy flows through your body, and that should be sufficient for he next part." He snickers. "I hope the cook won't kill us for teaching you this."<br>Sori laughs and takes the lead. "Don't worry, I will protect you."  
>We follow her while my brother shakes his head. 'Remind me to drastically increase the intensity of our training if that becomes necessary.'<br>I nod and grin.

After the typical long walk we arrive at the food room and sit down next to our first dish. Drak slowly takes a bite and carefully chews while our temporary student watches him. He grins. "Like I said, it's really easy. You have to focus on the food. As you swallow it you should notice how a tiny bit of energy keeps leaking out of the meat. I can only take a guess on the next part, but your body might use it to naturally convert the food into more energy. And other for us more or less unnecessary things like fat."  
>He takes a second bite and I grin. "Guess you should try it yourself now."<br>The Deino nods and snatches a chunk of meat, quickly swallowing it, but choking a bit in the process. "What next? It's only a different perspective how energy and food work for us, you didn't say why you're not getting fat." She coughs. "Despite your weight increasing somehow."  
>My brother stops his feasting for a moment and shakes his head while I take the chance to eat a few chunks myself. "Is it really so hard to figure out the next step? You use the leaking energy to convert the food. It's in your body after all, manipulating it shouldn't be too hard." He chuckles. "If your talented this is a lot more efficient than actually taking the time to properly digest something. If not it should at least be faster."<br>The Deino takes a new bite and swallows, but shakes her head after a while. "I understand what you mean, but it does not work for me. I'm unable to keep the additional power inside of my core."  
>We blink in surprise before my head sinks down. "Sorry, never had any problem with that."<br>My brother slowly nods. "Yeah, the new energy should simply mingle with your old one before quickly becoming one."  
>We stand up and leave our last plate for Sori, I'm sated and Drak does not look like he wants to continue his feasting either.<br>The dark dragon steps in our way as we are about to step outside. She grins and rubs against our chest. "Don't look so sad! I just wanted to know why you don't look as if you gain weight and how." We receive a lick and slowly take a step back. "There has to be some way to repay you..." She continues to grin as she leans against our side. "Got no idea?"  
>I shake my head and we carefully push her away. "We tried to create a new attack, but I don't think you could help us with that."<br>Our guide looks confused and disappointed for a moment before her grin returns. "I can at least try to help you." She rubs against us again, stronger focus on our hind leg. "But even if I manage to help you, I will still be in your debt."  
>We show no reaction and she sighs. "I admit the equipment on this ship does not seem to be intended to test new attacks, but if you have a raw guess of how the new move will work we might be able to improvise."<br>We take a few steps back, it does not seem smart to stand in front of the door for so long, and sit down. 'We can trust her, so much is clear, right?'  
>My brother nods while Sori sits down close enough to make sure we're aware she is there, but not so close she would distract us. 'Right. But how could she help? We won't use the pulse against her to see how it works.'<br>I nod. 'Correct, we will look for different guinea pigs for that purpose. But she could help with the different machines, I'm sure she knows what to do with most of them.'  
>'So it's set, she can try to help us, but no direct contact with our attack.'<br>I grin while we turn to the Deino. "You can try to help, but stay out of our reach when we unleash the attack."  
>The dark dragon grins and nods. "Getting in the way of your attack? Nah, I already thought that would be a really bad idea, hot scales. But you have an idea what we have to expect?"<br>My brother leans closer. "We're pretty sure it will be a pulse or aura." He snickers. "We even choose a name already."  
>I groan. "Blood pulse. We did talk, but not decide on that one yet."<br>Sori grins. "Blood pulse? How creative... Anything else you already know?"  
>"The last time we tried it we had to concentrate a lot more than usual, dragon pulse is pretty easy to control in comparison."<br>Drak grins. "And the damage we deal to ourselves while using it makes it difficult to include it in a normal training."  
>The Deino steps closer. "Could you go a bit more in detail about the damage you dealt to yourselves?"<br>I tilt my head. "It's difficult to remember..."  
>My brother laughs. "Yeah, the pain made it hard to stay conscious for longer than the blink of an eye. But the condition it got us into should make it a bit clearer, right?"<br>He stops for a moment, but my own memories are... fractured would be a nice description I guess, and we did focus more on the matter of how to evade making the same mistake again in the discussion we had later, not the details of the backfiring, so I wait for his version before I add the few things I remember.  
>"We were almost drenched in blood, most likely our wounds breaking open again..."<br>The dark dragon gasps, but my brother grins."That happens a lot, especially if my beloved brother is not careful with his shadow aura, that grayish-black aura we used against the Salamance, so it's not too bad normally. Our blood pulse." He snickers while I grit my teeth. "Seems to have a similar effect like the shadow aura on us, but in a stronger intensity."  
>Sori nods. "I will make sure to get something to patch you up after each try."<br>I tilt my head. "What about the mental attack? I'm pretty sure it was worse than your normal dark pulse, at least for me."  
>Drak shudders. "You're right, it was worse, it doesn't affect myself normally, but the new attack does. But there's nothing to help against that kind of damage, right?"<br>The dark dragon carefully leans against us. "Nothing synthetic for all I know. But I will try my best to help you on that matter."  
>My brother nods. "I guess that was everything we know. We should rest and start the training tomorrow."<br>Sori nods and leads us to our cabin. We lie down and the Deino quickly leans against us. She grins. "A new, most likely powerful attack... if this works you will gain a lot of fame, hot scales."  
>I twitch, but do not respond.<br>The dark dragon seems like she did not notice my reaction, lying on our back with her eyes closed. "Sleep well."  
>I nod, a bit absent-minded. "You too."<br>My brother grits his teeth. "Have a nice rest."  
>Sleep seems to avoid me for a while as one thought drifts through my mind. 'Was it really a good idea to try to create a new move?'<p>

End of chapter 28.  
>"A lot of thoughts in this one, huh?"<br>It's important, I guess. Action will return, sooner or later. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	29. Chapter 29

"Wake up, sunset."  
>I open my eyes and blink in confusion. "Sunset?"<br>Sori snickers. "Your scales remind me of the color of a sunset. Don't you like it?"  
>My brother grins. "It's almost the opposite of dawn, not sure why we should like it or not. As long as we are not the end of all hope for you it's fine."<br>The Deino tilts her head. "End of dawn, maybe? Nah, I stick with hot scales."  
>She snickers and rubs against us before we stand up. I look to Drak. "So, first we get some breakfast then we start our training?"<br>My brother nods. "Sounds like a plan."  
>Our guide grins and takes the lead.<p>

As we enter the food room a Rattata dashes into the kitchen, not sure if it was the same as yesterday.  
>"My ruin returns! I shall praise Arceus when they finally leave..."<br>I shake my head. "We're not that bad, right?"  
>Sori grins. "No, you're worse."<br>My brother snickers while we sit down in front of the first dish. "Guess we are lucky you enjoy bad company, huh?"  
>The Deino blushes and we start our meal.<br>It does not take long before we gorged everything down the dark dragon leads us to the training hall.  
>I admit, I'm not sure if it is extremely smart to continue experimenting with an attack which almost killed us the first time we tried to use it, but my brother seems confident we can achieve something great and I hope that will get us a bit of peace later.<br>Sori falls back as we enter the hall and snickers nervously. "I will get the potions. You wait here and prepare yourselves, if there is a way for you to do that."  
>She runs off before I get a chance to reply. My brother chuckles. "Prepare ourselves, huh? What does she think we should do, meditate?"<br>I shake my head. "I guess she really does not know how to help us with the new attack." I glance over our body. "No open wounds." I slightly focus. "No poison, my core is pretty much in tip-top shape. Besides a bit of fear I don't see any problem."  
>Drak nods. "We are most likely about to attack ourselves in an attempt to create a possibly suicidal move. A bit of fear seems appropriate, brother."<br>Sori walks in with a large case on her back which she carefully sets down onto the ground. She grins. "This should be enough to patch you up for several tries if you're not wrecking yourselves too bad. Ready when you are, hot scales."  
>We nod and take a few steps back, not sure about the range of our experiment. I try to concentrate and use shadow aura, but a wave of fear and hate breaks my focus. Drak looks to me and grins. "Sorry, I shouldn't go full force right from the beginning."<br>I nod and grasp at my core, slowly creating my aura. Emotions assault my mind again, but I increase my focus on my attack and shut them out while familiar pain fills me.  
>I keep the aura up until our aching body becomes unbearable. Opening my eyes I see my brother looks at me and shakes his head. "It won't work if you shut me out."<br>I grit my teeth. "So we have to endure each others attack? You know this will get agonizing."  
>Drak snarls. "Power always comes with a price, thought you knew that already."<br>Sori steps closer and pours some liquid over our back before she shakes her head. "Come on, guys, you will get nowhere with an attitude like that."  
>I nod and try to smile. "Guess you are right. I hope it's worth it."<br>The Deino grins and gives us a lick before she steps back to a safe distance. "I'm sure your attack will be great." She coughs and continues murmuring. "I only hope I got enough potions, I didn't notice you're somewhat resistant to them..."  
>I extend my aura again and almost immediately feel the dark pulse affecting my mind. Instead of fending off the attack I try to suppress my instincts and welcome the emotions. 'You're too small.'<br>I twitch, but leave my defense open. 'Weak!'  
>My head starts to hurt awfully and I struggle to keep my instinct to shut out everything in control. 'You're weird!'<br>The mental pain intensifies and I feel my moral sinking. 'Red... I won't waste my time with you!'  
>I shake my head and try to banish the voices, but I does not work. 'Freak!'<br>I'm about to give up as something lays onto our skin.  
>Useless...<br>The aching of our body suddenly sharply increases while the mental assaults seems to easily pierce my last defenses and scratches directly into my mind.  
>I feel weak. I am weak.<br>I drop my aura and feel my brother does the same.  
>"Please, stop it..." My head drops to the ground and I cough up blood.<br>Sori steps closer and pours some liquid over our back before leaning against us. "I know you can do it. You almost got it."  
>The pain slowly subsides, but the feeling of weakness and fear take a lot longer to fade away. My brother shudders. "Useless... there's no point in going on..."<br>The Deino presses closer against us. "Don't be so depressed. You're not alone."  
>I sigh and stay on the ground. "Why do you care? We couldn't help you."<br>The dark dragon shakes her head. "I already told you, it was not important. I lo-... just like you, that's all."  
>We slowly get in position while Sori takes a few steps back. We grit our teeth as the barrier between Drak and me shakes. 'Last try... I don't want to go back... we have to... one more time, for Sori.'<br>My aura extends and the pulse of my brother quickly mingles into it.  
>Pain... Despair... Hatred...<br>Slowly I feel something new building up, few inches away from our body. Power. The feeling of might quickly gets overwhelmed by depression.  
>Worthless... Agony... Disgrace...<br>I extend my grasp of my core and force more power into the new aura and feel my brother does the same.  
>"Are you okay? Maybe you should stop for the moment."<br>I slowly open my eyes and see a layer of blood on our skin, thicker at our red scales. Our energy reduces to a point I'm starting to wonder why we're still standing, but the new power increases in power instead of collapsing.  
>Fear... Selfish... Weak...<br>Sori steps closer to our body, but stays out of our reach. "Stop it! You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up!"  
>Useless... Pathetic...<br>I stop feeding energy to my aura while my brother ends his pulse, but the new attack does not end instantly. Instead a final pulse goes off, hitting the Deino before the feeling of power fades.  
>Vulnerable...<br>We shake. I quickly let go of my focus and look to the dark dragon who has fallen onto the ground, bleeding and twitching. We rush over to her and carefully press against her while my brother grits his teeth. "Come on, get up. You don't get killed so easily."  
>He gulps and I give our guide a small lick on her left side where I noticed several cuts. "We know you are strong enough to shake this off."<br>The Deino slowly relaxes and opens her eyes. "I hope I never get on your bad side, hot scales. I feel as if I was dragged into hell for a moment." She shudders and stands up while she grits her teeth before she looks at us and chuckles, blood dripping from her mouth. "You look worse than I feel. Let me get the potion for you."  
>We shake our heads and I spit a bit crimson saliva. "You need it more. Get us a nice meal and we will be fine."<br>Sori leans against us and seems to hesitate for a moment before she nods. "Your pride will be your end one day." She coughs. "But I won't argue with you, this time."  
>I grin as we slowly lead her to the can. "It's not always bad to listen to me."<br>The Deino grabs the potion and empties it in one sip. The effect shows immediately as the few smaller cuts vanish and the bigger wounds close a bit. 'Wish I knew what they put in these things. The results are always amazing.'  
>My brother shakes his head. 'Special berries and that sort of stuff. We don't need that kind of help.'<br>I look to Sori while our body slowly fills with pain. "Do you feel all right?"  
>The dark dragon nods, but keeps close to us. "Yes. Now come on, we need to get you a bit medical attention, you look like a bloody mess."<br>My brother snickers and licks a bit of blood off her. "So do you. And we already looked like this when we arrived. Don't you like us like this?"  
>The Deino blushes. "I like you, but I like you even more if you're not totally covered in red, the scales are enough."<br>We grin and follow her lead, trying to pay no attention to the pain.

Our arrival at the medical room feels strangely familiar. Focus only on Sori and stepping forward, the only differences being the amount of blood on us and the Deino sometimes looking back instead of seemingly ignoring us.  
>We manage to take a few steps more than last time before collapsing, again. Darkness surrounds us.<br>"Are you kidding me?! Who did they fight this time?!"  
>Sori answers in a surprisingly soft tone despite the anger in the voice of the human. "Themselves, I guess. Please, try to get them patched up enough to enjoy their last day on the ship."<br>"Did I ever fail you? So, happy when they leave you alone and continue their training in the mansion?"  
>I hear a sigh. "I don't think they will take his offer."<br>"If they leave you will have to go too."  
>Something presses against us and I hear a low whisper. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I simply could follow you."<p>

End of chapter 29. I admit I think I could have done better introducing the new attack, but one the other hand, I can't get rid of the feeling it would only have been a waste of time to dig deeper into that matter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	30. Chapter 30

The Sunkern hops forward and the shadow of the size of a Wailord covers me while the grass type tries to bury me. Wait a moment, something does not feel right...  
>I shake my head and the oversized plant stops mid-air. "I don't care how gigantic you are, I won't get squished by a Sunkern, not even in my worst nightmare."<br>Vines out of ice wrap around the stupid dream-thingy and compromise it to its normal size. I grin while thorns grow on the vines and a clear liquid drops onto the ground. "What is that supposed to be, spectral blood? I'm a dark type, why should I be afraid of ghost?"  
>The Sunkern shatters and energy flows into me. I see the shape of a Garchomp and take a deep breath while a white shine lays over my vision. 'Shale?'<p>

"Wake up, don't you want to use your last day on the ship?"  
>I snarl and open my eyes, but stop as I see Sori. My head feels as if someone would slowly pull it apart and smash it together again while our body does not feel as if we could run, or even walk fast, today. "I think we should skip training today, I don't think I would survive a new round with blood pulse."<br>My brother groans and nods while he opens his eyes. "You accepted the name after all, huh? But we have to get something to eat, we can't lie around here all day."  
>The Deino smiles and turns her head around, grabbing something out of my sight. As she turns back to us I see she holds a plate and sets it down on our back. "I managed to get you a bit of food without waking you up. To be honest, it wasn't too difficult, I already got it yesterday while you two we're in an almost comatose state. You certainly know how to exhaust yourselves."<br>Drak grins and almost radiates happiness. "You got us food? How could we thank you?"  
>The dark dragon snickers and grabs a chunk of meat. "First of all, eat up, I guess that should speed up your recovery a lot, right?"<br>My brother nods and starts eating, but I keep looking at our guide. "Secondly?"  
>She sniffs and coughs. "Take a bath, you desperately need one."<br>I mimic her sniffing and grin. "Only if you keep us company, you almost smell as strong as we do." I sniff again. "But there is also a strange different smell. Are you okay?" I can't get rid of the feeling I smelled something familiar before, but I can't pinpoint where.  
>Sori blushes while she nods. "It's nothing."<br>I shrug, if she does not want to tell me I can't force her, we owe her that. I see the plate is almost empty and quickly snatch the last piece of meat, my brother should not start believing he could eat everything alone. "Anything else we can do for you?"  
>The Deino hesitates for a moment before she shakes her head. "You will figure it out sooner our later." Her grin returns and she slowly stands up and rubs against our hind leg. "You're pretty smart after all, right, hot scales?"<br>I slowly nod. Under normal circumstances I would answer with a clear yes, but with her around I'm not totally sure. We get up and follow Sori to the door. My brother snickers. "Where to next? The bath, so we wash of our awful small to please the beautiful dragoness next to us?"  
>The dragoness was about to step outside and turns to my brother while she stumbles and falls onto her chest. Drak blinks in confusion. "Did I say something wrong?"<br>I tilt my head. "It was only a simple compliment, everyone likes one from time to time, right?"  
>Sori coughs and gets onto her four legs again. "It was not bad, only... unexpected. You really think so?"<br>I snicker and nod. "You're the best looking dragoness we met in weeks. Why should we lie to you?"  
>We lean against her right side and my brother grins. "You only lack one thing..."<br>The Deino leans closer. "Really? And what would that be?"  
>We push and she falls on her left side. I laugh. "Strength." I look down to her while the dark dragon grits her teeth and stands up. "Why did you not evolve?"<br>Sori sighs. "I'm not allowed to. Come on, I will explain to you later."  
>We follow her and I blink in confusion. "You're not allowed? Why would someone hinder you to get stronger and most likely even more fascinating?"<br>The Deino seems to blush again. "Later. Enjoy your last day here."  
>We arrive at the bathing room and enter while Sori stays at the door. I turn my head and grin at her. "Come in."<br>The dark dragon blushes. "But, but..." She shrugs. "I should have seen this coming. You won't try anything funny anyway, right?"  
>My brother nods. "No jokes, understood."<br>The Deino shakes her head and walks in, heading toward one of the big holes in the floor. "Sometimes I'm really wondering why I waste my breath. Hop in."  
>We walk closer and I look down. It might be obvious, but... "Where's the water?"<br>Our guide snickers. "You never used a bath before? Right, you're a wild one. Water will rise in the hole as soon as you touch the ground."  
>We jump down and like the dragoness said water starts flowing into the bath-thing. Drak glances around. "What happens if someone stumbles into these? Any chance they drown? And is this on contact trigger not a bit wasteful?"<br>The dark dragon leaps next to us and chuckles. "Wasteful? Remember where we are? Not even a tenth of the cabins are used, without your extreme feeding habit we wouldn't use most of the rations and your host only tried to talk you into staying any longer once, despite his obvious desire to watch you, and maybe brag with you at tournaments. Does this seem like a good use of resources for you?"  
>Drak shakes his head. "If you put it like that... it was a bit stupid to ask." We lean closer and he chuckles. "Can you forgive us, oh beautiful?"<br>We snicker as the Deino blushes while the water reaches our waist. I tilt my head. "Are you not responsible for getting us to stay? I do not mean to offend you, but your effort on that matter are... almost not notable, right?"  
>Sori sighs and moves closer into our side. "It would be useless anyway, correct? Most of the time it's the most effective if I find out what the person wants the most and try to satisfy that desire." She coughs. "At least that's what they told me, but you don't seem to need anything." She continues whispering and I move closer to hear her. "Except maybe a loyal friend, but I'm unable to give you that, huh?"<br>I press my head against hers. "Don't be so... hopeless. You're great and we will miss you when we have to go."  
>My brother coughs. "Naturally. And you will remember us too, right?"<br>The dark dragon nods and sighs before she looks down. Suddenly the dragoness starts to snicker. "How could I forget bathing in blood with you? Did you carry your weight in dirt and blood around, hot scales?"  
>I draw back and look at the water. It is muddy-red, but I can still feel a thin layer on our scales. I'm not sure how to respond, so I let my instinct guide me, despite the mixed results we had in the past. I lean closer to Sori and nibble at her neck. "We're not totally clean yet, maybe you want to help?"<br>The slight blush of the Deino drastically intensifies and she quickly shakes her head, but out of whatever reason she seems to consider my question after doing so. "You're certainly... eh unique. I can't decide if you are plain stupid, agonizingly unaware of.. eh pretty basic things or simply enjoy teasing me to death."  
>My brother grins. "A bit of all of that I guess. Come on, only a tiny bit help, it was your idea after all."<br>The dragoness shudders, but smiles. "This will haunt me forever. Or at least longer than I want it to."  
>We roll on our side and Drak snickers. "You're going to get nightmares from our fearsomeness?"<br>The Deino rubs our stomach with one leg, slowly cleaning off mud, sweat, etc. "No nightmares, more like w-... weird dreams. Your muscles are awfully cramped." The dirt is gone, but the dragoness continues to rub our underside, starting at our chest and very slowly going to our hind legs. "Relax for a moment, let go of your fear and sorrow for a while. Think of something happy."  
>I try to follow her advice and leave the darker parts of my, our, past behind for a moment, but it proves difficult to think about something good which has no bitter taste. Good friends, maybe? Aken... I shake my head, good, but too bitter. Shale? 'I miss you, Ke.'<br>I twitch and we shove Sori away before standing up. 'So do I.'  
>I shake my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts while the dark dragon blinks at us, displaying a mix of confusion and, I'm not sure, shame maybe? She hops out of the water and clears her throat. "Sorry, hot scales, seems like you are not ready." She shakes of the remaining liquid and walks to the door. "Come on, there's one last thing I want to show you."<br>We jump out and wrap our warming aura around us to dry ourselves.  
>The walk to the next place was pretty short, at least in comparison to the average one on this ship. Our guide did remain silent while we were going and I'm wondering if, and what, we did wrong.<br>"I hope we made it in time, would be a shame if you miss the sight."  
>Sori opens the door and we carefully step through, a few steps more and we fall off the ship. The Deino walks beside us and points to the horizon where the sun is slowly setting.<br>We sit down and the dark dragon leans against us and grins. "Just in time. Watch carefully, Dragoon, home is about to appear."  
>Like she said we don't have to wait long before I'm able to see how land rises out of the ocean. Not sure why, but watching Drak's, and I guess in a biological way my own, home drawing nearer feels extremely, eh, calming. I grin.' I think we have to repay Sori somehow, right?'<br>Drak nods. 'I guess you're right, we should at least give her our name.'  
>I lean closer to Sori and lick the top of her head. "I'm Ke."<br>My brother moves closer and smiles. "Drak. I don't know what binds you to your master, and if you don't want to tell us we won't force you, but when you freed yourself we would be glad to welcome you in our... how to call it?"  
>I tilt my head. "Family? Clan? You like giving stuff names, not me." I grin. "We are only few, but we would be happy to call you... sister does not feel right..."<br>The Deino grins. "We will figure out an appropriate name when the time has come."  
>We continue to watch the sun until the last rays have vanished. Sori snickers. "So, hot scales, I hope that was memorable enough."<br>She guides us back to our cabin and snuggles into our side as soon as we lie down. "Good night, Drakke."  
>I grin. "Sleep well, Sori."<br>My brother yawns. "Nightmares shall avoid your sleep." He snickers. "Not too bad, huh?"  
>I nod while the Deino laughs. "With your fearsomeness around? They wouldn't dare."<br>I slowly fall asleep, my mind drifting back to our, my, last trainer and team mates. I hope I did not do too much damage.

End of chapter 30. So, enough shipping around for a while. I have to admit, it takes a lot more effort to simply have two character interact over a longer period of time than I thought it would. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the trip, the next chapters most likely won't be this... eh, emotional? Can't find the right word. Let's go with peaceful, for my lack of a better word.


	31. Chapter 31

"Does freedom equal never truly finding a friend?"  
>I shake my head and stare t my brother. "Why would you ask something like that? We are free, but have a few friends, right?"<br>Drak sits down and glares at me. "Friends?" He shakes his head. "Be honest, if we would vanish, leave without a trace, who would miss us? A friend would, I guess, but it doesn't take me long to count these few."  
>I blink in confusion and step backward. "Come on, it's quality over quantity, right? Sori for example seems to like us a lot." I chuckle. "Despite her weird behavior sometimes."<br>My brother continues to glare and I gulp. "I would count her at least twice. Your old team mates seem determined to get you back, they do miss you, so they are your friends, right?"  
>I hesitate for the blink of an eye as Drak's glare softens shortly. "You never told me that much about them, but it looks like they enjoyed your company, a trait for friends, right?" 'And something my team mates didn't show that much.' I shake my head. "And don't forget Aken, did not look like he enjoyed leaving us."<br>For the first time in our dream conversation my brother grins. "How could I forget our blue-scaled brother?" He laughs. "It's always a pleasure to talk to you."  
>I don't know why, but suddenly we both stand up and walk closer to each other until only mere inches separate us. I grin and notice a white beam connecting our shapes, slowly thickening as I start to feel my brother, closer than I ever did before. Confusion, not sure if it is Drak's or mine. We simultaneously tilt our heads. "Did we create something new? Or did we find our missing link?"<p>

Something moves away from us and I open my eyes, but can only see the door slowly swinging shut. My head starts aching pretty painfully and I hear my brother groan as a different view lays over my own, but does not cover it, making me see two separate perspectives at once.  
>'Sori is missing.'<br>I shut my eyes to block out the pain and notice only one layer of vision remains. 'You're right. Maybe she gets us some food again?'  
>Disbelieve, I can't even convince myself. 'Most likely not. Let's search for her?'<br>'Better than waiting for her, huh?'  
>A short impulse of happiness. We ram into the door and see the weird master of Sori and the ship leaning against the door on the other side. The human smiles, or at least shows his teeth. "Did you enjoy the trip?" Anger rises. "Looks like your slowly beginning to use your potential. With the help of the Deino, if I'm informed correctly?"<br>We snarl. "Possible. We have to disappoint you, there still is no interest to follow you around."  
>The man shakes his head. "Really? You are willing to leave all this comfort behind?" He laughs and our anger slowly turns to hate. "Leave behind the Deino, sacrifice her well-being for your freedom?"<br>I grasp at my core and ice wraps around my fangs while the teeth of Drak are enveloped by flames. The reaction of the human finally seems more appropriate as he tries to put some distance between himself and us. We growl. "You thought we would bind ourselves to anything in your service?"  
>Sorrow. 'Did Sori trick us?'<br>We jump forward and smile, exposing our fangs in the process. "We offer you a trade, maybe two." Rage.  
>The human walks backward, but we don't allow him too much distance and follow up. "Trade? I'm not sure if I understand you. What could you give me, and for what?"<br>We ram him to the ground and put our left front leg on his chest. Difficult to control ourselves and not kill him on spot. "The first offer is so good, you would be suicidal to say no. We want you to shed a bit of light onto some things and you don't want us to rip off your skin, right?"  
>Prey. 'No.' I grit my teeth and we put more pressure on his chest making him cough. Pathetic race. "Sounds fair. Ask me whatever you want to. But please, less force."<br>We reduce our weight on him and Drak leans closer. "Did Sori know you planned to use her like that?"  
>The human shakes his head. "No. I told her she should find out what you desire, makes meetings like this a lot nicer, you know?" he laughs, but stops as we stomp onto his chest. "Too bad she never delivered something useful. After your first day together she told you seem strong, nothing new for me. You like to eat, but you also seem to like to hunt, so not very useful. You're willing to take unnecessary risks, seems like she already cared a bit more for you than she should."<br>Slight confusion, but we let him continue, maybe it gets clearer if we let him talk.  
>"The report of your second day was even worse. You seem nice. If we look at the current situation that's not only useless, but a lie."<br>We snarl.  
>"You want to get stronger, but... I don't know, she didn't want to tell me, but you seem to lack something important, at least she thinks so." He coughs and tries to get up, but we push him back down. "That was everything she told me. Great, huh? The rest of the week she did only blush and shake her head if I asked for any new information."<br>We let him lean against a wall as he groans. I lean closer and snarl. "That was everything?"  
>He nervously laughs. "You did not mate, but you should know that yourselves, right? Only other clear answer I got after directly asking her if you did."<br>I blink in confusion. "Shouldn't only fully evolved Pokemon mate?" 'Shale said so, right?'  
>The human laughs again, but we interrupt him by shoving him against the wall. "Who told you something like that? It has more to do with age, and maturity, than with how far you have evolved. And the Deino has enough of both. Did you hold back?"<br>Confusion increases and we shove him against the wall again, harder this time. "Who told you it would be your turn to ask questions? You don't seem to lie so far, so we will be honest, but don't think you have any control over us. We never hold back, and we have no idea what you are talking about. Why do you not allow Sori to evolve?"  
>The man chuckles, but stops almost immediately. "I'm sorry, but after her last report she told me you wouldn't show any interest in..." He stops with a smile, but we respond with a bigger, and toothier, smile, resulting in him nodding and continuing. "In certain aspects of her, despite her trying to show you her interest in you. It's only funny if you have a rather wicked sense of humor, sorry. And it's less a matter of me not allowing her to evolve, but of her fearing an evolution. You two are getting along a lot better than the average Zweilous, besides the time shortly before they evolve, I guess. The Deino told me in her former... eh clan? I'm not sure, but there a lot of Zweilous almost killed themselves or got stuck in their evolution as the next step would require a deep connection between both heads."<br>Suddenly the human seems to remember who he is talking to and blinks in extreme confusion. "Why am I telling you this? Shouldn't your parents, or clan chief, or whatever, talk to you about things like this?"  
>Sorrow and despair, buried so deep I'm unable to feel the slightest where the feelings come from, pull me down and I feel hate rising as I surface. We put our right foot on his left leg and increase pressure until something cracks. "Stay awake or you won't wake up at all. We ask, you answer, not the other way around. Would you release Sori if we give you something precious in return?"<br>The man groans in pain, but slowly nods as we snarl. "Just give me a moment please. Something precious? Last time I heard a dragon talk like that he was considering trading in a scale of his." He shows a mix of happiness and pain, sure is a weird specimen. "If you're thinking about the same I would gladly agree."  
>We slowly nod. 'Sori's worth one.' "How long does it take to cancel her contract?"<br>"The blink of an eye. But the bound between trainer and Pokemon can only get broken if I break her Pokeball while she is around, don't ask me why." He groans and slowly stands up. "But getting the capsule could take a few weeks. Would you be willing to give me your part of the trade when you leave and I will send the Deino your way as soon as possible?"  
>We take a step back and shake our heads. "No. It would be really bad luck if Sori gets caught by someone while on her way to us. "We hesitate for a moment. "You get our scale and in exchange prepare everything, but the last step will be done when we return to get her."<br>Drak grins. "Make sure he freedom will be a pleasant surprise. And you know you won't get away alive if you try to trick us."  
>The human nods and stumbles a few steps away. I snicker and we step closer, offering our back to him. "You look like you could need a crutch, so allow us to help you to the medical room."<p>

Our help gets accepted and he is smart enough not to try something stupid like grabbing our wings, leading to a silent walk to the room. We get the human to the door, but I block his way with my head as he tries to get in. "Why would it help to wait before you evolve?"  
>Our host coughs. "I don't know."<br>My brother snarls and blocks his way, resulting in a sigh from the man. "But I heard the personalities of the two heads of a Zweilous are only synchronized, or close to that, at two moments. Directly after their evolution and shortly before the next one. It seemed logical to me that if a Deino gathers enough energy to almost skip the two-headed-stage the personality shouldn't get damaged too badly and the danger of getting stuck should be reduced to a minimum as the differences can't build up over a long time. Your guide was willing to try if my theory was correct."  
>I move closer. "How far has she come?"<br>The human seems to think about taking a step back, but stays on spot as my brother snarls. "She won't tell you, so you harass me instead? Don't answer, I told her to talk to none about the experiment, so of course she didn't. Almost ironic, you could say I brought this treatment upon myself, huh? Last time I checked she seemed to be ready to try it, but she told me she wanted to try it home, to increase her feeling of security I guess. And that's where you enter the small tale, happy?"  
>I slowly nod and let him pass. "We will arrive today?"<br>The man groans. "We already did a few hours ago. The Deino is waiting in he cabin for me, most likely expecting punishment as she did not get you to stay. Want to see her before you leave?"  
>We shake our heads. "No. But tell her she should finally stop holding back her strength if she wants us to consider her our mate."<br>Drak tilts his head. "That should help her evolve, right? If she has some sort of goal to get to?"  
>The human stares at us puzzled, seemingly struggling not to say something.<br>I lean down and look at the spot where the Gardevoir ripped off a scale. I feel it slowly growing back, but it will take some time, taking off a second one before the first one has grown back feels insane, but it also feels right. I slowly grab the scale under the gap and try to think of something else.  
>The human watches us carefully and twitches as I rip off the scale. "I admit, I'm surprised you really did that."<br>I throw the scale at his feet, trying to ignore the blood pouring out of the wound. "I try to stay true to my word and you better do the same if you want to survive our reunion."  
>Sori's current master picks up the object and then points to an approaching Chansey. "A dark type with a sense of honor? Now I've seen everything. This Chansey will guide you off my ship. Fare well and I hope our next meeting won't be this... violent."<p>

We follow the normal type off the ship and step onto a crowded beach where the egg-carrying Pokemon turns around and walks back.  
>I look to the swimming human thing and grin, blending out the aching in front of our heart. 'Could have been worse, huh? What next?'<br>My brother snarls at a small human who is pointing a finger at us. 'Away from here. Too many trainer.'  
>I glance around and notice several two-legged ones staring at us. The way north is, not really free, but least blocked, so we take that direction and leaving, threatening anyone who dares to stand in our way.<br>We are about to step into one of these walk-through-houses, as my brother called them, as an extremely stupid specimen of the human race steps into our way.  
>"Looks like the freak evolved. Still a freak though. But maybe you're worth a Pokeball after all."<br>Rage. We struggle not to go for his throat, human taste too bad and it takes too long to get rid of the taste, and instead use dragon breath to attack his legs. Pure luck he is able to evade and release a Hitmonlee. No mercy, no useless waiting until our opponent is ready to play, we charge into the fighting type and throw it back, but my brother bites into the right glove before the prey gets out of our reach.  
>'Where's the silence?' Normally a fight helps to calm us, me, down, but this time my need to fight, to taste blood, devour my enemy, only grows as the Hitmonlee slams into the sand in front of us. We step on it's right shoulder before my brother snaps his head upward and we hear a cracking in it's arm.<br>Hunger. Drak releases the limp and bites into the throat of our prey. I growl at the trainer while energy flows in our body. The pathetic human takes several steps back while a sudden white glow extends from our body. I feel as if Drak's presence would mingle with me.

POV Drakke

'Who am I? Who are we?'  
>Anger. 'Anger? Why?'<br>Screams of fear and hate surround us. 'We did defend ourselves. I did defend myself.'  
>The scent of blood.<br>"Get him off my Pokemon!"  
>I feel scars covering my skin and scales.<br>'We were split. But I am one, right?'  
>Something pushes against me, but stops and retreats before I even get a chance to react. 'Coward.'<br>I growl and hear two voices accompany me. "Leave us alone."  
>The smell of flesh and blood helps to focus and we, I lean down and rip out a chunk of meat.<br>"Shouldn't someone, y'know, help me rescue my Pokemon?"  
>A female voice laughs. "First of all, this is, or at least was, your fight. You know we are not allowed to send our Pokemon against it until you wasted, sorry, fought with your last team member. Secondly, you brought this upon yourself, never taunt a wild Pokemon if you're not sure how it will react, or even worse if you can't handle how it reacts. And last, but not least, why should we endanger our Pokemon for a fighting type that is so weak it got knocked out by a dark type in less than a minute?"<br>Next bite. 'Am I Drak? Ke? Drakke...'  
>I glance around, the humans did scatter, I should be able to get up and leave. 'I'm a Hydreigon?'<br>I feel my instincts rising and mingling with memories of mother, showing me a Hydreigon is airborne, using both the wings and part of it's energy to stay of the ground. I carefully let energy flow into a hollow space in my core I didn't pay attention to before and feel my weight reducing while my wings flap faster. I lift of the ground and instantly feel better, somewhat natural I guess.  
>'Stay calm.' At the moment the human seem pretty fearful, I don't want to end that by flying around seemingly randomly and get the trainers to try to catch me while they think I'm weak.<br>I enter the house and see nobody is in it. I look down and notice the two heads on my arms looking back at me with a look that pretty much mirrors my own confusion. 'They are annoying, stupid and only think about fighting?' I don't know, it seems wrong to say something like that about a part of your own body, but mother did.  
>I grin. "Who are you?"<br>It takes a while before the left head answers. "I think I'm your left hand, or function as such for you. Shouldn't you be the one who knows stuff?"  
>The right one nods while I move closer to a wall and lean against it, not sure how long this could take, might as well take the time to introduce ourselves. "Whatever he is on your left side, I'm on your right side, correct? But I agree, you have to be the smart one out of us three."<br>I blink in confusion. "Why are you so certain I should do the thinking?"  
>Both smile happily. "Instinct. And you have the biggest head. But mostly instinct. Imagine you carry a mark on your head, leader and smart one."<br>I slowly nod and snicker. "And you don't question your instincts? Makes sense in a way, I'm sure you won't get any headaches like that. Anything else you want to tell me?"  
>The smile of the right one widens. "Only that I think I'm lucky I got such a great leader."<br>The left head nods. "Same goes for me."  
>I grin and slowly rise into the air again. "How can someone argue with that? One last thing, how strong is your control over our body?"<br>I move my arms together and try to make them bite into thin air, but only succeed with the first thing. As soon as I stop focusing they move apart, but neither one seems to mind my small experiment. "We are the only ones who can directly control our mouths and have slight control over your arms, but you can overwhelm us on that area if you think we should for example bite into something else."  
>The left one looks a bit confused. "And we feel what you want to do in a fight and will help you achieve that, but don't ask me what that means, I feel my instincts telling me it is that way, but not the meaning of it."<br>I nod. "Guess we will find out sooner or later."  
>I leave the house and follow the way north.<p>

I try to concentrate on finding shelter, but something keeps telling me to move onward and my head aches so annoyingly I can't focus on the strange feeling dragging me.  
>I feel my memories slowly mingle into one version. Does that make sense? I'm not sure myself, some points of our, my past seem to be too different to even belong to the same event while others fit together like the head of Marowak and its bone-helm, almost hard to find a difference at all. It's almost painful to try to get on even terms with the extremely different ones, but it feels essential we, I, become, remain, one. I shake my head. 'I am who I am. But who am I?'<br>Almost as annoying are the voices, originating from various memories and all seemingly determined to put their mark on me. 'You're weird. Freak. Red scales.'  
>I shudder and try to shove them away, or at least allow the other voices in. 'You're... unique. Hot scales.'<br>I grin, but the for me most irritating voices slips in and makes me shake. 'Leader?'  
>I'm almost happy as I suddenly feel someone watching me ans sniff. "I thought I made it clear. Leave me alone."<br>A young human steps into my sight and grins. "Not yet."  
>He seems familiar, especially the weird visor which keeps going forward and back again. I admit, it looks fascinating, almost hypnotic, acting up like that, but the boy seems rather annoyed by the thing as he quickly rips it off and grits his teeth. "Stupid, buggy hardware. Has to be this cold weather."<br>I blink in confusion while the human presses several buttons on the object, stopping once in a while to point it at me and grunt in frustration as it keeps moving back and forth. 'The reason for that should be the cold weather? The sun is burning down! If it gets any warmer I will have to keep traveling at night time or bite myself with frost fangs and he talks about the weather being to cold! Where did they test that thing? In the cave of a Charizard waiting for her eggs to hatch?!'  
>The boy shakes his head. "Has to be you. I'm sure the professor will be very interested in testing you. Get him, Gallade!"<br>He throws a capsule and reveals the mentioned psychic fighting type. The first reaction of an enemy is one of the easiest ways to see how he will fight.  
>In this case it's a leap back and shuddering for a moment, which would make the Gallade a coward, rather special for his species. I grit my teeth as a memory quickly surfacing, showing me a reason why he might act like this.<br>The blade-using Pokemon quickly calms down, but an odor of fear remains. I snicker. "We already know each other, huh, Gally?"  
>The cowardly fighting type twitches and takes a step back. "Seems that way." He straightens up. "But I trained a lot since last time. Victory is mine!"<br>My opponent dashes at me and I barely evade the slash by leaning left. My right hand bites into his right arm and I spin to the psychic types back, allowing my left hand to grab his left arm. I snicker and draw back, stretching his arms. "You won't get away with a simple flesh wound this time."  
>The blades start glowing, but I can't feel any pain. He either still hasn't learned about the dark type's immunity to psychic attacks, or he forgot to use wonder eye first. Anyway, I grasp at my core and form a ball of energy in my mouth before moving closer and pressing my mouth against his neck.<br>I think it's called a point-blank hit if you use dragon pulse at this distance, but I'm not sure. The result is pretty clear though, my opponent getting pushed forward, resulting in both of his arms going limp before my hands let go and the Gallade drops to the ground.  
>A red beam connects with my prey before I get the chance to do some permanent damage. "Coward."<br>I snarl and turn to the human who holds one capsule in each hand. "Won't take any risk this round. Flygon! Absol!"  
>My two new enemies appear in the usual flash of light and I lower my height and cough. "Two? Isn't this a bit unfair?"<br>I should be able to take both out in a clear one versus one, but two at the same time can end pretty bad for me as a new memory shows. It's a bit strange, the pain of my memories settling down is gone, my whole being focusing on the fight seems to allow my subconsciousness to work in peace, only letting go of raw memories if something strongly reminds me of the event.  
>The dark type spits on the ground and swings his scythe a few times. "Want to give up? Stop whining, you would gang up on us too if you would get the chance. It's not like you scum would know honor."<br>While my monochrome opponent is still talking the dragon ground type is already charging forward at me, I'm barely able to see how the Absol gets moving before my reflexes kick in and I withdraw all energy out of the special area of my core to fall down. 'Not attacking at the same moment? That's very smart, or very stupid.'  
>The Flygon misses and glides over me, but my additional heads take the chance to bite into her hind legs and pull her down onto me. 'Why do I not remember how unique the smell of each Pokemon is? Wynn didn't smell like this, despite belonging to the same evolutionary line.'<br>The distraction does not last long as the Flygon screams in pain and crimson liquid drops on my chest while her weight on my body increases. I take a deep breath and throw the ground type off. She lands on her back and I hear two screams as the tip of a scythe exits her chest. I fly, maybe more of a powerful hop, onto my enemies and grin as the blade extends an additional inch or two out of her. "If that's your idea of combining forces I will pass on the opportunity to spare with you."  
>I try to put more pressure on them, but the smell of the bug-like dragon distracts me. It's definitely different from Wynn's, but close enough to make me think at my old team again.<br>I try to shake the thoughts of and use my dark pulse, but stop as I hear the Flygon wince. "Mercy, please. Don't you have a heart, no loved one?"  
>I blink in confusion and let my pulse collapse, resulting in even more confusion of myself. "Everyone has a heart, sometimes it's the most tasty thing in someone. But what does the heart have to do with love?"<br>The ground type laughs, blood spilling out of her mouth. "Are you sure you should be asking me? I'm your enemy after all. And you pierced me moments ago, pretty bad source for objective information."  
>I lift of her and shake my head. "Your partner pierced you, I only pushed you off, bad luck of yours to fell on the blade-head and push it through. And as the victor of the fight I earned myself an answer or two, right?"<br>The bug-like dragon growls. "You did not win yet, our trainer would have retreated us otherwise." She tries to get up, but the scythe cuts into more flesh in the process, making her scream and sink down again. "Please, stop acting like a whelp, it's embarrassing enough to lose in a two versus one without the opponent looking as if he didn't even reach maturity and mate yet."  
>I blink in confusion and she sighs. "Newly evolved? Listen, I really don't think it's my responsibility to explain things to you. Ask good friend, I'm sure you have one, you don't seem to bad. And now, could you do me a favor and... ?"<br>I grin. "No problem." I turn to the trainer who seems to be frozen in fear, I have no idea how long he is already standing in that pose, and growl. "The fight is over, retreat them and flee already!" 'How can someone so stupid become a trainer? And how did he manage to catch her? The other two idiots seem to have an appropriate master, but I'm not that sure in the Flygon's case.'  
>The loser rises the capsules and runs off as soon as both vanished. I have to admit the battle had one great benefit though, my head aches are totally gone and it does not seem like they would return anytime soon. And the annoying need to keep moving onward had reduced to an intensity where I should be able to ignore it for the night.<br>It does not take long before I find a nice cave and lie down. As soon as I touch the ground I feel the day has taken a greater toll than I thought it did, sleep quickly overwhelming me.

End of chapter 31.


	32. Chapter 32

"Come north, your destiny awaits you."  
>I snarl. "More likely my doom. Leave me alone!"<br>This dream drives me nuts! It has haunted me for two weeks, but the worst part has yet to come...  
>A familiar scent fills my nose and I feel a mix of joy, fear and anger rising. I can't resist, I charge into the Garchomp in front of me and press against her. "Shale!"<br>The nightmare repeats, despite her changed form I'm able to to recognize the ground-dragon, but...  
>She growls at me in frustration. "Get off me! Who are you?"<br>I slowly back away, I have to admit it, even though there is pain every time she growls at me like that, the short contact lightens up this nightmare, makes it somewhat bearable, and I don't know if I could stand on spot, even if I tried. It's useless to argue with the Garchomp, she will slash at my face and I will wake up, it has always been like that. "I'm Drakke." I shake my head. "But who are you?"  
>Shale goes into a defensive stance while blood drips from her claws, but she does not seem to notice. "I will be your demise if you don't show some respect."<br>Interesting. The dream normally ends here with her attack on my face. I grin, but stay cautious, it's pathetic to wake up trying to suppress a cry, but that pretty much sums up every morning after this dreams. "My demise? You really think you're stronger than me?"  
>Her growling increases. "You're just a stupid dream figure, not the real Drakke. Of course I'm stronger!"<br>I guess it is not the smartest thing to laugh while she already seems this irate, but I can't resist. "I'm a dream figure?!" I very carefully move closer and lean my head against hers. "Does this feel like a dream?"  
>Her reaction is not exactly what I expected. She sighs and leans closer. "Yes..." Suddenly the Garchomp retreats and shakes her head. "I mean no, it did not, but this can't be real. Drakke is dead."<br>I blink in confusion, I think I'm slowly starting to be able to push away these cryptic messages and pointless prophecies, but a blunt lie is certainly something new for me in a dream. "I'm dead? When should that have happened?"  
>Shale nervously touches a scar below her left eye. "I don't know. Maybe in the huge blizzard that hit Sinnoh the day you left? I hope you, Drakke did."<br>I tilt my head and sit down. "Why would you want me to die in a blizzard?"  
>The blue scaled dragoness growls. "I did not want you to die, but it would have been a lot less painful than slowly caving in to your shadow energy burning away your flesh..."<br>The slash across my face hurts, but the dream does not end, which almost makes me forget the pain for a moment. Judging by her puzzled glance at her claw the ground dragon did not expect this either. "Strange, you should be gone by now."  
>I nod and try to push the rest of the pain away. "Yeah, it normally ended like that. Lucky it didn't. Care to tell me why the shadow energy should have killed me? The Gardevoir said something similar, but I don't understand."<br>The dragoness takes a step back and rises her claw. "Gardevoir? Rika? That's it, you can't be real, she came to our team after you left, died, you can't know her!"  
>I snicker, mostly out of relive she did not attack again. "You're jumping to conclusions here. Who said I meant your team mate? There are a lot of Gardevoir, meeting one isn't too special."<br>Shale lowers her claws, but still seems willing to strike again. "But only very few shadow ones. Too fragile psyche." She sighs. "But even if you survived the blizzard and the energy flowing through your body, how could another Pokemon take notice of that? I'm no expert and your aura is... extremely strange, but no signs for the shadow state."  
>I flinch. "The Gardevoir did not talk about my own energy..."<br>The next slash hits my chest and continues downward, stopping shortly after my stomach. I don't need to mention how much it hurt, or how shameful it feels to get hit off guard again, right? The Garchomp growls furiously. "But an injected portion? You dare to appear in my dream after wounding a team mate of mine almost beyond repair?" She licks a bit of blood of her claw. "I should have known it was a bad idea to send her to participate for our team, Cara knows I'm her strongest fighter. What do I need to do to end this? Kill you?!"  
>The ground dragon tries to ram her claw in my chest, but I'm able to evade by flying backward. I have to suppress my need to strike back and stop her until she calmed down. A small vein of ice grows out of the ground and wraps around Shale's left foot, but she stomps on it before turning to me again. "It took a whole week for Rika to recover. A whole week of screaming and whining for mercy of one of my most levelheaded team mates! Do you have any idea how awful that felt?!"<br>I drop on the ground to evade the angry leap of her. A thicker vein wraps around her feet as she lands, making her fall to the ground as she tries to charge at me.  
>"I only did defend myself."<br>The dragoness struggles to free herself, but the frozen plant thickens instead of breaking while more veins begin to bind her to the floor. "Defend yourself?! We heard a report of the fight, you kept going after she gave up!"  
>I snarl. "I lost control. You never lost control?! She ripped off one of my scales!"<br>Shale laughs. "You lost control? You never possessed any control in the first place! Charging into me, telling me you see me as your future mate, making a show out of everything, eat a lot more than you need to..."  
>Ice wraps around her throat chokes her, finally stopping the verbal assault. I hesitate for a moment before moving closer and focusing on the ice. It's harder to control than it should be, but I manage to reduce it to a point where her ability to speak is not hindered anymore while she remains bound to the ground. I slowly give the star on her head a lick. "And you despise all that, Shale?"<br>The Garchomp moans. "Maybe not all of it."  
>I feel a new presence and turn around, but can't see anyone. "You enjoyed the reunion with your beloved ex-team mate?"<br>Shale's scent disappears. I don't need to look back to know her dream has ended here. I snarl. "It was more of a mixed bag. Why all this?"  
>The laughter does not contain any humor. "To finally get some sense into you. Your insight of your actions seemed... lacking. It's easier to win with an additional tower than with an additional pawn, whelp."<br>I groan. "I hate this cryptic stuff. Stop bothering me."  
>A cold claw lays on my shoulder and I struggle not to instantly shake it off. "You can't turn back time and undo your past mistakes, so I want you to at least think twice before doing something stupid. A dead servant is of no use for me, whelp."<br>"Servant?"  
>"Follow your way north."<br>"Why?!"

Light touches my scales and I wake up with a growl. Every night since I evolved the same dream, or nightmare, with small variations. But none of them made any sense and even though at least the last one did not end as rashly as those before I'm still not able to grasp what the meaning of all of this is. 'Keep going, follow orders, train and get stronger. Why?'  
>I try to take my time on my journey north, but I can't change my path. 'No escape. One of the few things I clearly know, I just feel it.' "Ready for a new day, hands?"<br>Both nod, I did not bother to name them as none of them has shown enough brain to make that necessary, you don't name rocks either, right?  
>I leave the cave and take a deep breath, like many times before. 'It's great to be home, even though I remember it being a lot colder in my youth.'<br>I'm more or less in a routine, using the first half of each day to train and hunt for something tasty while the second half is filled with moving north, avoiding all human contact along the way. I'm pretty sure most of them shouldn't be too difficult to beat, but why should I take the risk? You have to be lucky to find one who carries Pokefood around, and my luck was so limited I did not find a single one in my first week. I admit it, I gave up trying to get one after the first dozen humans.  
>The search for food proves more difficult than the actual fight as most prey flees on sight and freezes in fear as soon as I get in biting reach.<br>For example this Gothitelle here. Falls down after a single dragon breath and does not even stand up again. I move closer and shake my head. "Why did you not even try to defend yourself? That's pathetic."  
>I bite open the chest and let my hands further rip open the wound. "Is bravery considered wrong for you species?"<br>The only response is a pain filled groan. I growl and extend my dark pulse, its scream grow in volume, but sill no answer. "Speak!"  
>The psychic type faints and I bite into its chest and swallow the heart, feeling its power slowly adding to mine. I hear growling in my back. "Why do you ask someone who can't answer, brother?"<br>I rip out a chunk of meat before turning around to a white Garchomp. "Pain can either make someone talk more freely or silence him completely. You never know if you don't try, Aken."  
>It seems like his scales did further lighten up after he evolved, almost shining now, at least these not covered in blood or mud. He shakes his head. "You sound awfully philosophic. Did you not find something, or someone, to distract you and keep you entertained?"<br>I growl. "Not yet. What brings you here? Thought you're happy with you clan. Or are you still looking for the berries?"  
>The Garchomp laughs, but it sounds more nervous than amused. "I did. And I was happy being home, but it seems like I'm destined to continue my journey."<br>I grit my teeth. "Destined? Does not sound like the Aken I knew. Quick explanation, if you don't mind?"  
>The white dragon shakes his head. "I do mind, brother. Our clan leader told me to find one of the scales of the legendary ice-dragon, that's all you need to know."<br>I growl. "Did you not tell me there is no such dragon? A sudden change of mind?"  
>Aken steps closer and grins, impressive how many teeth can become visible while doing so. "I have to disappoint you, I still believe there is nobody, and nothing, like that, but I have to search anyway. I was able to get some natives to tell me about an almost always frozen cave, which is my first destination."<br>"Did you kill them?"  
>"I made it quick and painless. I will search the cave, find nothing and return home."<br>I tilt my head. "And how do you expect to search in a freezing cold area? Ice isn't exactly your strength as far as I know."  
>The Garchomp laughs and shows me a small bag. "I did bring along a few berries, there should be enough to ignore hostile temperature for a while."<br>I sniff at the object and cough, it almost stinks of Yache berries. "Juck. How many are in there?"  
>My brother grins and binds the bag to his left arm. "Half a dozen. And where do you plan to go? Did you find a clan?"<br>I slowly shake my head. "Not exactly. I met someone pretty friendly, but... I don't know, I feel like something pulls me north and..." I shudder. "I don't know, but I think it would be best to leave a safe distance between me and her until I'm done. Or whatever awaits me is done with me."  
>The white dragon nods. "I see. North you said? Care to join me? Loneliness seems to have a bad influence on you."<br>I snicker. "I hope you're not expecting me to get killed by something big this time."  
>Aken grins. "I gave up on that. You seem to enjoy living and killing others too much to simply die. I guess you will rather kill yourself one day."<br>We get going and remain silent for a while.

"Was pain the only thing you thought about?"  
>I cough. "No. Memories are a lot more interesting."<br>The Garchomp glances back at me. "Memories? Are they not more or less a thing of the past? Nothing a bloodthirsty person like you would be very interested in?"  
>I laugh. "But they can be used to manipulate the present and sometimes even help predict the future. For example dark pulse feeds on memories, but can mentally break an opponent, making the attack a link between past and present, right?"<br>"There are not that many attacks which are based on that. And I heard you can also increase the strength of dark pulse by focusing your mind."  
>I try to tackle the ground dragon, but he barely manages to evade and glares at me. I grin. "In a way we all use our memories, our past battle experience, to react in fights. Our bodies might have limits and there might be riddles we can't solve, but using our past we are sometimes able to exceed these physical or mental limits." I sigh. "And a true fighter is defined by exactly that, right?"<br>Aken laughs. "You definitely had to much time to spare. Did you think about all this instead of training?"  
>Suddenly my left hand snarls. "He did while training. And I'm sure we can easily beat you with his smartness."<br>The white dragon grins. "You think so? We could do a bit of sparring I guess."  
>He turns around and slashes at my chest, but I fly backward and counter with dragon breath. Despite the perfect hit on his chest my opponent does not even twitch and leaps at me.<br>I slightly underestimate his speed and receive a scratch on my left side while moving out of his way. I snarl as my hands snap at the Garchomp who ducks and swipes at my right hand.  
>We take a few steps back from each other, one more, one less figuratively speaking. I grin. "It's nice to have a sparring partner who does not go down in one hit. Good to have you back, brother."<br>Aken laughs. "In one hit? I'm surprised you did not lose your skills if the battles were so easy."  
>He charges at me, but I mimic his action and let my hands bite his claws. The clash does not go too well for me as the white dragon is able to throw me back and scratches at my stomach with a blue glowing claw.<br>I cough before forming a ball of energy in my mouth. My opponent seems more frustrated than threatened. "Are you sure you want to use dragon pulse? It was not your safest move."  
>I release the shock wave and throw him several feet back where he stays on the ground. "I did not waste all my time philosophizing, you see?"<br>Aken grits his teeth and nods while standing up. "I see. I would say this is enough training for now?"  
>I take a deep breath while my right hand spits crimson saliva onto the ground. "Fine by me."<p>

We find a cave as the sun slowly sets and quickly lie down.  
>"Have a nice rest, Drakke."<br>I nod. "Sleep well, brother."

End of chapter 32. Maybe not my best one, but I don't want to keep you waiting for another month until I get a better idea on how to get all the information I need into this chapter, and I'm pretty sure I have everything story-relevant covered. Hope you enjoyed it.


	33. Chapter 33

Sun shines on my scales and I slowly open my eyes.  
>"Had a good night?"<br>I get up and nod. "Pretty much. How far away is this ice cave?"  
>Aken grins. "We should get there today. It took me long enough to get this far."<br>I snicker. "More exactly?"  
>My brother coughs. "A week or two. I wasted a lot of time evading humans."<p>

We leave the cave, quietly heading north and soon reach a cave that seems to fit the description Aken received. I move in first, wrapping my heat aura around myself, but the cave seems to lack the right temperature for ice, being only a tiny bit colder than outside.  
>I turn to the Garchomp and see he takes a berry before stepping inside. I tilt my head. "Sure we are correct here? Maybe we should return later?"<br>My brother growls in frustration and walks past me. "No! It has to be this one. We have to go in deeper. Or is the dark type uncomfortable in his natural environment?"  
>I snarl, but follow the white scaled dragon. "No, but I try to reduce my possible suicidal actions. Did someone already tell you you're tending to turn off your brain if the task at hand is given to you by your clan?"<br>It has gotten pretty dark around us, but I have enough vision left to see his slash, not as if I hadn't predicted it either, and evade. Our surroundings lighten up for the blink of an eye as Aken's claw scratches along the wall. "Silence!"  
>I gulp, when, and why, did he turn so moody? "Sorry"<br>The Garchomp sighs. "Excuse my harsh reaction. I have to find some sort of prove I at least tried to find the legendary cave, but couldn't come up with anything yet."

We continue to follow the cave, judging by the length of it I'm slowly starting to consider it could be a tunnel, for a longer while until I can finally see light. I hear the ground dragon laugh and can't get rid of the feeling it sounds slightly insane, but that could be the echo. "We made it! And it feels a lot colder, we are getting closer to the real cave!"  
>I glance back and see the white dragon eats two berries before walking past me and stepping out.<br>Snow. I don't know why, or how it is possible, but outside of the tunnel lies a several feet thick layer of snow. I grin while increasing the temperature of my aura. 'Home. It's as cold as on the day I was born.' I take a deep breath. 'I don't care if this place has to be pretty much lies on the opposite end of Unova to the place I was born, the small loss of energy as my body fights off the cold feels great and is a better reminder than any tree or stone.'  
>Aken snarls. "A hidden valley of snow and ice? Come on, I don't want to spend more time here than necessary."<br>I laugh. "Thought you would be happy to be so close to your destination. And the berries protect you, right?"  
>The Garchomp growls. "Not for long if the temperature remains this cold. The colder it gets the more berries I need or they won't last long enough."<br>I shake my head while Aken swallows his last berries. 'Never thought he could get so unstable.' "But you trained your aura in case the berries lose their effect before we get out of here, right?"  
>I'm barely able to evade the dragon breath, but too slow for the following tackle and the ground dragon throws me onto the snow. "I won't learn your blaspheme moves."<br>I kick the white dragon off and blink in confusion instead of attacking. "Blaspheme? You make no sense."  
>The Garchomp dashes forward and swipes me away with his tail. "Nobody should use energy the way you do. At least there will be none left after you died."<br>I land on the snow with my back and have to resist the instinct of forcing more energy into the aura, it would take too much to completely neutralize the ice. "I have to disagree. I showed another Deino the roots, even though she can't use the knowledge."  
>I roll to the left and evade Aken's attempt to ram his claw in my chest. He pulls his hand out of the snow and growls while I retreat out of his reach, trying to figure out how to stop him. 'There won't be any frozen vines this time...' "Another one? A detour seems necessary then."<br>I feel my need to strike rising, but try to suppress it. "Why, brother? It makes no sense to extinct something that is no threat."  
>He twitches. "It should not be, I don't know why..." After a moment of hesitation the Garchomp snarls. "This is your fault! Because of your stupid idea I came back too early! Because of you my clan thinks I managed to erase my ice weakness! Because of you they call me dawn, rising sun or pure flame." He jumps forward and swings his claw at my chest. "I don't want the fame!"<br>I gulp and try to distant myself too late, resulting in a three or four inch deep wound. My right hand snarls at me while the left one snaps at Aken who steps out of my reach. "Why are we not fighting back?"  
>'It makes no sense.' I feel something shattering and hate slowly rising as my hope for a different solution ends.<br>The Garchomp tries to slash at my left arm, but I step back, figuratively, I don't need to mention this every time, right?, and form a sphere of energy in my mouth. The dragon pulse throws my brother several feet back and I try to grin, but the usual fun of hitting an enemy does not fill me. "It's not my fault your clan sees you as a strong fighter."  
>Aken charges forward and rams me into the snow, scratching my face with a blue glowing claw. "Liar."<br>My dark pulse extends and I throw my opponent off as he shudders. I growl. "Others would be thankful for the help."  
>I charge forward and try to bite into his chest while my hands try to grab his arms, but the white scaled dragon drops on his back and kicks me away. My opponent grits his teeth and leaps forward, slamming his right claw against my chest while keeping the mouth of my right hand shut. He spins and launches me against a nearby rock, I would say three times my size, but the pain makes estimating it a bit hard. Ouch.<br>Snow drops onto me and I feel my aura weakening. 'It should be fun to fight a worthy opponent, why is it not?'  
>I put more effort into suppressing pain and manage to clear my vision in time to see the Garchomp running toward me. I duck and his slash let's sparks fly of the stone behind me. I headbutt into his stomach while my hands bite his feet. Next I pull my head back before slamming forward with more force using the stone behind me and throw Aken to the ground.<br>I hop onto him and wrap my teeth in ice, but the ground dragon kicks me off over his head before I'm able to use my fangs. I quickly stand up again and cough.  
>Blood sprinkles the snow around me and it takes me a moment to realize a lot of the liquid is of me. I hesitate to attack while my brother stands up. 'Why is it so difficult to strike? It can't be only the temperature.'<br>Aken takes a deep breath before sinking onto one knee. "I hope at least you enjoy this, brother."  
>I shake my head, but the Garchomp dashes forward before I can come up with a response. I evade the wide swing of his right claw, but his follow up with a glowing tail catches me off guard and the white scaled dragon launches me several feet away. 'Would it be easier if I did not know him?'<br>My impact into the snow takes my breath for a moment.  
>Pain. 'What is more painful, the actual wounds or the memories coming along with them?'<br>My opponent steps closer and looks down to me. "You are not finished yet, right? I expected a bit more of you."  
>'Why? I don't get it. Fate?'<br>Aken lifts me into the air, claws wrapped around my throat. "No wonder you are all on your own, brother. Think about it, not even your precious scales can make you superior to the average Hydreigon."  
>The Garchomp retreats his left claw and snickers. "I can't decide what is the worst thing about you, friend."<br>He rams his free hand into my chest. "You're egocentric. There won't be a lot of persons who will mourn about your demise, right?"  
>The ground dragon pulls his claw back out. "You are a glutton, and to make things worse, proud of it."<br>I receive a slash on my stomach. "You are stubborn and ready to sacrifice anything to achieve your goals, despite the conflicts with the goals of anyone else, even those you called friends."  
>The light scaled dragon draws me closer and spits at me. "And you're a liar. You never considered changing your way, never accepted a different opinion besides your own. You never looked up to anyone, never respected anyone."<br>He smirks. "Your life is about to end and you never loved anyone, right?"  
>The claws form a ring around my throat again and I struggle to keep breathing. The ground dragon pushes me down into the snow and steps onto me. "You never saw a frozen dragon."<br>Just as I feel my supply of air running low the grip around my throat loosens as his hands start to shake. I hear Aken's teeth rattling. "T-the b-berry w-wears o-off. B-but you w-won't b-beat me a-anyway, t-the s-snow is y-your e-enemy a-as well!"  
>'So much for trusting me. He should have tried to use my aura, huh?'<br>I can't stop shaking, my aura unable to shield me from the overwhelming presence of ice, and my power almost seems to flow out of me and into the snow wrapped around me.  
>I'm sure I start hallucinating as I hear a laughter in the howling wind. "Forgot our trade, whelp? Your blood for mine."<br>I cough. 'Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.'  
>"N-no l-last w-words, D-drakke?"<br>A for me almost forgotten feeling of true safety fills me as the snow around me crystallizes and covers me in a scale-like armor while drops of cold energy solidify in my core. 'I should end this quick, last time the power had a too high price as it withdrew. I was weaker at that time, but... I don't feel that much stronger now either...'  
>I kick the Garchomp off and glance at my hands, both seem frozen solid, I can't sense if they have fainted or are simply unable to move.<br>I look to the ground dragon and see he is twitching on the ground, unable to make any move. I leap onto him and notice I won't be able to keep my usual mobility up, the ice pulls me down, literally. I press my arms on the Garchomp in an last attempt to gain my satisfaction from the fight, but I only feel hollow as he screams in agony. Empty. I shake my head. "So much for being a liar, white scales." 'Why is there no fun in this fight?'  
>The ground dragon sinks deeper into the snow and I have to continuously shake my head as instead of the feeling of victory only sorrow fills me. "Why did we have to fight?"<br>I reduce my weight on Aken, but the freezing cold temperature keeps draining his power and I feel his resistance breaking.  
>"A-a t-traitor d-does not d-deserve a-an e-easy d-death."<br>I shake my head and try to grasp my power. It reacts instantaneously and I form my blood pulse and wrap my former friend in it as my physical and mental pain make him scream. "You did dwell on memories, so it's only fair if you see my point of view.  
>The attack starts to take its toll and I collapse onto my brother. I try to smile while my scales rip open and red liquid drops through the frozen armor and onto the chest of the Garchomp which already reveals raw flesh. My blood mingles with his. "It won't take long, friend."<br>the pulse digs through his flesh to his bare bones faster I could, but every moment hurts and feels like it would last eternally. The last moments feel the worst as I hear a faint "forgive me" before the final bits of the Garchomp's life force leave him.  
>I slowly lose conscious on the remaining of what felt like one of my truest friends. I don't care if someone hears me as I whisper into the howling wind, darkness already taking a hold on me. "Of course I forgive you, brother."<p>

End of chapter 33.


	34. Chapter 34

Light.

Warmth.  
>My grip on my power loosens. 'Heat. Hostile.'<br>I try to move, but can't feel my body react.

"Why does the ball not work? You belong to my team, right?"  
>It takes me a while before I recognize the voice. 'Kitaro?'<br>I blank out. Again I guess.

"He's not too heavy. I should be able to carry him to the next Pokecenter. Shouldn't be a longer way than from the cave to here, right?"  
>Flig. I can't move, can't even open my eyes or speak. 'Go away. I will just get you in trouble.'<br>"Not too heavy?! We are not blind, piggy, we saw how you almost collapsed after dropping Drakke here."  
>Goth. 'Why did they not give up?'<br>"The last hundred feet or so got a bit difficult, but in the beginning I had no problem, right, Cream?"  
>Something has been leaning against my side since I woke up, but I did not notice until the cold presence moves away. "What... ? No, you did struggle all the way. But we couldn't leave Drakke behind."<br>A furry hand grabs me at the throat and lifts me off the ground. "I don't get it. What's so special about this Hydreigon. Scars, blood, dirt, an almost solid stench and sore scales. We could have gotten a Deino and trained with it until it evolved and wasted less time. Wasn't there even a report how Deino can easily skip their Zweilous-stage a few days ago?"  
>Even through my closed eyes I see a bright beam hits the female holding me and I fall down. Strange I think I heard a similar voice before, but not in Kitaro's team.<br>"We won't..." Cream clears her throat. "We can't replace Drakke with any other Deino. Understood, Kate?"  
>The answer is accompanied by a groan. "Gotcha. Was the hyper beam really necessary?"<br>There is a moment of silence before Kate gulps. "Don't glare at me like that. It was a joke..."  
>The ice type leans against my side again. "No funny one. Can't you lift Drakke and help Flig with the weight, Goth?"<br>The psychic type sighs in annoyance. "Do I really need to tell you about the elemental basics? He's immune to all psychic moves, I can't help."  
>"But I saw a Gardevoir throwing him around with ease."<br>"Miracle eye, maybe? We did talk about the fight. Kitaro did even get us a copy, despite our lack of money to actually see it that often. I'm sorry Cream, like I said, I can't help you with this."  
>The discussion might go on, but I feel my weakness dragging me back into the arms of sleep and nod off.<p>

"Eat something."  
>I slowly manage to open my eyes and see Kitaro has set a can of Pokefood in front of me. I'm not in a Pokecenter, so they did not find a way to transport me there. I bite open the can and gulp down the food before glancing up to the human. "Why do you not leave me alone? I won't be of any use for you."<br>My ex-trainer smiles. "I'm pretty sure we already had a discussion like that."  
>I shake my head. "No. You can't catch me this time. No matter what you do, it will all be in vain."<br>Kitaro leans down to me, but does not touch me. "I know. I already tried. You're aware of a solution?"  
>I hesitate for a moment. 'No more fights... I don't want them to waste any more time trying to get me back. They should simply leave me alone.' "No. You should listen to, I'm not sure I got her name right, Kate? Look for a new Deino, you should be able to find a replacement, maybe even a better version for your cause."<br>The human shakes his head. "A replacement? After all the time we spent looking for you? Do you think that would be fair?"  
>I snarl. "Fair? Since when is life fair?" I turn my head away and sigh. "I would be dead if life was fair."<br>Something cold tackles into my side. "Don't leave us again!"  
>'I left them? They left me... it doesn't matter anyway.' I groan as Cream looks to me with pleading eyes. "You wouldn't want me anyway, I... did not only change in shape."<br>The Vanilluxe moves away a few steps and glances over me before leaning against my side again. "Nothing we couldn't adopt to I'm sure. Maybe you should take you time with the decision."  
>Kitaro stands up and nods. "Yes, you should rest and think about it a night or two."<br>I sigh and nod, there seems to be no point arguing with them. "I will. But... you're going to think about leaving me, too, okay? Please?"  
>After a moment both nod, Cream very reluctant.<br>We remain in silence for the rest of the day as both appear to be confident I would want to return if they simply leave me enough time.

"Who would have guessed you need less food as a Hydreigon? You're becoming affordable, Drakkey."  
>I snarl at Goth. "I only try to be thankful by not devouring all your rations."<br>I glance to Kitaro. If you really want me to change my opinion by letting me meet my old team Goth surely wasn't the wisest choice of yours."  
>The human laughs. "At least you are talking to each other, unlike Flig who only tried to prove he could easily lift you or Melog. How could you stare at each other for several minutes?"<br>My hands are also starting to recover, easily noticeable as the right one coughs. "It's not too difficult if you can't move. And staring at it was like watching a wound heal. Boring and pointless, but not very challenging."  
>I yawn. "How long did you take for that parable?"<br>My left hand snickers. "Since the ground ghost appeared, right?"  
>I turn to the Gothitelle while my right hand nods. "Where did we stop?"<br>The psychic type sits down. "You tried to tell me how it felt to be effected by a psychic move."  
>I nod, if I can't get them to leave me alone I can at least try to find their possible weak spots, if our separation won't be peaceful it should at least be quick. "Like I said, mostly weird. As if a natural shield would have been pierced and got vulnerable on a totally new level. But not as painful as an effective attack. I think one of the biggest problems is the lack of a proper training to get to know what to do. Maybe like your fear toward dark pulse?"<br>Goth shudders and shifts nervously. "I don't know. The main aspect of dark pulse which frightens me is its uniqueness depending on the user. I heard every attack is different and even the impact one Pokemon has with it can change over time, mostly increasing as every fight leads to new pain."  
>I twitch. 'But only very few lead to real agony, strengthening the mental aspect.' I shake my head and grin, showing my fangs. "Let's hope you don't get the chance to compare my old pulse with my new one, huh?"<br>Goth tenses and gets up. "I find it hard to believe your attack could have gotten any worse."  
>Instead of an answer I simply look into her eye until she starts shuddering and turns away. "Maybe it's easier to believe than I thought. Yeah, let's hope we don't have to fight."<br>The sun is slowly setting and the psychic type retreats in her Pokeball, leaving only Kitaro and me. The human smiles. "Convinced already?"  
>I hesitate for a moment. "If I come along, what are you planning to do? Is it true they banned you from tournaments?"<br>My former trainer twitches. "I'm free to start from square one they said. I lost my badges, but with your help, and the others, winning them back shouldn't prove too difficult, right?" He lies down and continues., mostly speaking to himself. "And nobody will stop us this time, no leader, no weird thieves, nothing."  
>I close my eyes and await my sleep. 'Too bad I won't be there for the great victory celebrations.'<br>Stubborn.  
>I shudder.<p>

End of chapter 34. Feel free to review, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	35. Chapter 35

Something grabs me at the throat and lifts me into the air.  
>"I want to make a few things clear to you, and for your own sake you should better listen closely."<br>I open my eyes and see a Mienshao is glaring at me. 'Where did I hear her before?' "You're Kate?"  
>The fighting type nods while continuing to glare. "Correct. And you're Drakke. Enough introduction. You made my life a lot more difficult than it had to be, so I demand you to stay until my team has calmed down. Then you will leave without making anyone anymore angry."<br>The sun did not rise yet and it's surprising how intimidating the weasel can appear in this dim light. I grit my teeth. "Why not simply say good bye now and spare everyone the farce? Shouldn't you be all honor full as a fighting type?"  
>Kate slams my head to the ground and growls. "Don't try to play a fool. If you go now it will only get worse for me. And now be a good boy and do what I told you."<br>She walks away and I try to use the little time left before sunrise to nap a bit more. 'Did she actually try to convince me? Confusing person, tells me to stay for a while, acts like I should leave immediately and somehow smells familiar... I should stop thinking about her before the headaches get worse.'  
>I shake my head, I simply can't remember, it only sends chills down my spine if I try.<p>

"Wake up."  
>I glance around and see the whole team of Kitaro has gathered around me. Kitaro carefully takes a step back. "So? How did you decide? Want to join us again?"<br>I look to the ground, neither the Mienshao's glare nor Cream's pleading eyes or the look or any other forms of contact with my former team seem enjoyable, or endurable, for me. "I decline, you don't need me."  
>I duck right after finishing my sentence and barely evade the hi jump kick of Kate. I quickly grasp my power and hit her with dragon pulse before she is able to recover.<br>"So I was not the only one who saw this attack coming. Who thought she could be even more predictable than piggy."  
>I move away from the others and nod to Goth. "I'm sure she will learn her lesson sooner or later."<br>It takes me two tries before I'm able to produce a satisfying snarl, the first two turning to weak whines. "I'm free to go?"  
>Awkward silence falls onto us for a moment before Melog takes a step back. "I won't stop you as a fight against you only has an extremely slim chance of victory."<br>The next to act is Flig who steps behind Goth. "Goth's choice will be mine, you're more of a thinking person, so her opinion should be smarter than mine, right?"  
>My right hand laughs. "Leaving the decisions to smart persons? He could have made a stupider choice."<br>I glance to Goth who seems to be turning a bit pale. She gulps. "You made your point, and it does not look like nice chatter could change your mind."  
>The psychic type stares into my eyes for a moment, then flinches. "And I don't want this to end in a real fight, or Kate will be left as our least wounded member."<br>I grin and glance to the still motionless fighting type, it could be worse, but to receive an almost point blank dragon pulse certainly shows some effect.  
>My grin stops as I remember Cream hasn't said anything yet and is still looking at me. I shake my head. "Please, it's for the better of us all this way."<br>After a moment of hesitation the ice type suddenly rams me to the ground, I was neither prepared nor am I on the height of my strength again, and leans against y head. "If you leave getting tasty treats will become a lot more difficult."  
>I sigh. "I won't have that much time to spare for mourning about low quality snacks." I try to smile. "But you will always be my favorite. Find someone else, please?"<br>The Vanilluxe slowly nods before turning away. "I hope I can. A last bite before you go?"  
>My mouth starts watering, but I shake my head and slowly get up. "No. Thanks, but I don't feel very hungry at the moment."<br>While Cream hovers away Kitaro steps closer and reaches out with his right hand. 'I can't see anything, why does he do that?'  
>I curiously look at it for a moment before he pulls back and nervously chuckles. "Sorry, I never released a Pokemon before, a final shaking of hands seemed right. On the other hand... shaking hands with a head could be a bit weird." He grins, but it does not feel real. "Anyway, I honestly hope you will find a home or whatever you are looking for. And if we cross paths again, I think we would all gladly help you."<br>I slowly back away. "I hope we don't meet again any time soon, let the wounds heal." I tilt my head. "But if our paths cross on the battlefield I will go easy on you, I owe you that."  
>I quickly fly away, the faster I leave the faster the wounds can start to heal, right?<p>

It takes me a while before I realize I've been heading north and stop in front of a cave. Calm down.  
>I shake my head. 'What should I do?'<br>'Stay away from humans!'  
>I have to control myself, everything gets easier if you're in control. 'Why does it feel so cold here? Does the cold air come out of the cave?'<br>'Only a coward runs away if he has a chance to win.'  
>'But I don't want to fight...'<br>Control. I take several deep breaths and notice my dark pulse has extended a few inch.  
>'Why do we fight against things we don't eat?'<br>'To get stronger.'  
>'Why do we try to get stronger?'<br>'Stop bothering me and focus on you prey.'  
>Does strength mean control?<br>"Look! A Hydreigon! If we can catch it the league will be a piece of cake."  
>"If! Or it will slay me and you have to start all over. We shouldn't risk that."<br>A Serperior gets shoved into my sight. After an angry snarl of mine the grass type cowers and starts shaking. "This wasn't my idea. Don't kill me!"  
>I feel anger rising, but no lust for blood. "It's your fault you obey a human who does not know when to stop."<br>"Attack him already!"  
>The female snake only tries to roll herself together tighter. "I don't like his smell. Death and demise. Let's flee!"<br>I move closer and grasp at my core. Dragon pulse should put her out of her misery. 'No, a simple dragon breath would be enough to knock her out.'  
>I hesitate, why show mercy to someone I do not even know?<br>I get hit by her tail and the Serperior wraps around me with a grin. "You're really easily tricked, you know that?"  
>Weak. I shake my head and redirect my energy into a dark pulse. "And you're not as smart as you may believe you are."<br>My opponents position allows me to envelop her in my aura in the blink of an eye. I let myself fall on my chest, and any part of my captor that is unfortunate enough to lie on there.  
>I sigh as the snake starts to scream in agony, but something stains my satisfaction. "It always resolves in violence... You should have stayed cowardly and it would have been less painful."<br>I... Something happens and I let my pulse vanish while the female smiles at me. "You're a heavy boy, heh? But you do not really want to hurt me, right, sweetheart?"  
>I slowly nod. "I shouldn't attack something so beautiful..."<br>The grass type smiles and turns her head to her trainer. "Males are such easy victims to my charming character."  
>I try to redirect her attention to me by nibbling her neck, but the Serperior only shudders without facing me again. 'Maybe I should act rougher, Sori expected me to do so, right?'<br>I bite into the neck of the snake and feel blood dripping onto my tongue as the female growls angrily. "Why did you numbskull bite me?!"  
>The taste of blood seems to draw me in and I suddenly feel a pink veil lifting from my vision. I snarl and take a second bite. "Our fight is not over yet, coward."<br>My opponent slides of me and tries to gain a bit of distance between us, but I form a sphere of energy in my mouth and leap after her, pressing the ball in her wound before releasing a dragon pulse.  
>I hear a loud crack, but a red beam connects to the grass type as I'm about to see how severe the damage was. 'Did I kill her? Why do I care? It's not like I knew her...'<br>The human chooses a Beheeyem next. Strange, it does not smell like a psychic type, more like a dark type. I shake my head and try to get rid of my headache, the strange attack of the Serperior didn't help getting rid of that either. I shouldn't allow myself to get distracted so quickly. "Give up, there's no way a psychic type like you could beat me."  
>The strange Pokemon smirks. "Let us see about that." 'Why does all this feel so weird unnatural?'<br>Why do I hear footsteps if it is hovering? And why did the slight fear in its voice not correspond with its smell? It also smells more female even though it acts and talks male... Are my headaches getting stronger?  
>My enemy tackles into me and throws me back. "Did you freeze in fear or what's the matter?"<br>Fur and claws? I just felt fur... I can't take it anymore, did she really think her acting would work if she fought like this?!  
>I duck underneath an orange beam of light and rush into the Beheeyem-looking Pokemon, headbutting her stomach.<br>The Zoroark drops onto all fours and groans while her illusion fades away. I grab the dark type at her neck, lift her off the ground and slam her back down as her muscles start to tense up. "Worst acting of a Zoroark I have ever seen."  
>In response my enemy's right paw starts to glow and I barely evade a slash on my stomach by hopping backward. "I trained for months to get so good. I'm pretty sure your eyes and ears couldn't tell the difference."<br>She leaps forward and tries to cut me open again. "And it's a miracle you can smell anything beside your own stench."  
>I guess I could say I got lucky as her furious swipes did not even get close to touching me and my hands bite into her wrists as my opponent attempts to take a step back. I grin while flames envelop my teeth. "Your illusion would be a lot more convincing if you had no fur. Maybe I can help you with that."<br>The dark type twitches and I ram my head against hers, following with a bite at her neck as the female goes limp for a moment.  
>A burning enemy can be surprisingly fast and strong in the first few moments, that never ceases to amaze me. I don't think the dark type would otherwise have been able to break the grip of my hands, push me a dozen feet away and start rolling on the ground in two or three blinks of an eye.<br>I smirk while my enemy stands up and glares at me. Still not fast enough to extinguish the fire before it consumed a large part of the fur on her neck and back though.  
>"That's it! Nobody torches my wonderful fur!"<br>Another great way to push yourself over your limits is to allow rage or any other raw instinct or feeling to consume you, but your accuracy suffers a lot... reminds me of the state of burning, no wonder mother spoke of the fire of rage, huh? But is the power worth the pain?  
>I slightly underestimate the Zoroark's speed and she successfully cuts open my chest a few inch, following up with an orange beam out of her mouth. The focus blast only grazes my left shoulder, but still knocks me down while I try to catch my breath.<br>The female doesn't allow me to recover for long though as she almost instantly tries to stab her right claw into my chest. Guess you could say my dodge was a close call as I feel her claw piercing one of my wings as I roll out of the way and jump away from her.  
>'You sometimes have to sacrifice someone or something to win.<br>I release a dragon breath and the dark type stops, despite the clear miss. She snarls. "Do me a favor and simply die, could you do that for me?"  
>I grit my teeth and let energy flow into my body, ripping open my wounds while my vision blurs for a moment. "Ladies first, right?"<br>My mostly furry opponent leaps forward and slashes at my throat, but I am barely able to avoid my decapitation with a duck and ram my head into her stomach before my hands pull her off her feet. As soon as she hits the ground I hop onto the dark type and press her down while my shadow aura wraps around her body.  
>The effect isn't the greatest I ever saw of my aura, but it seems to be enough to drain any remaining motivation to continue to fight out of her. The female loses consciousness and I drop my aura before the upkeep does the dame to me.<br>My vision starts to blur again while the Zoroark gets retreated by her trainer. I snarl as the human hesitates sending out a new opponent. "Give up while you have anything left."  
>I receive a wide grin in response. "You don't have to be concerned about me. I hope you have enough left to survive your next challenger."<br>Her next capsule opens, but a huge amount of smoke hides the Pokemon. Instead I only hear a rather insane laughter. "Ready to burn? I want to hear you scream, you..."  
>A violent series of coughs interrupts my opponent, and together with the laughter of his trainer also destroys the mood. "Told you it's a stupid idea to stick so many smoke things on your ball."<br>"Stupid, low, quality, imported c..."  
>The human clears her throat. "Mind if you skip this before the Hydreigon dies of blood loss or boredom?"<br>The smoke has lifted enough to allow me to see my opponent. A Chandelure? I feel my body slowly submitting to pain and exhaustion,but I should be able to keep going a bit longer. 'I shouldn't lose against a ghost.'  
>"Already too weak to stay in the air? This could be fun."<br>I shake my head and try to concentrate on the fight, but it seems to be in vain as I can't get rid of the images in my head. 'So much blood... So much pain.. Why do I keep chasing after things I can't achieve?'  
>A shadow ball misses my head by mere inches and I hear an annoyed groan. "Come on, react! It's lame if you just lie there!"<br>I sigh. 'A fight should be fun... But all this feels dull, empty... Why?'  
>The next ball and hits my shoulder, under normal circumstances less than a poke, it shouldn't have hurt at all.<br>"If you honestly believe you could outlast anything like that you should think about your physical state for a moment."  
>I grit my teeth. 'Easy prey offers no hunt.'<br>I slowly grasp enough energy to get up and glare at my opponent before releasing a dragon breath which misses by several feet. A roll to the side avoids myself getting roasted by a stream of flames, but I can't seem to strike back. It's not a lack of stamina, not only at least, but I still can't tell what else it is.  
>The fire ghost laughs. "You can do better than that. Your mother would be ashamed. Or is she as pathetic as you are?"<br>I leap forward and bite into him. Or at least try to as he easily pulls back out of my reach and snickers. "You're an awful disgrace for you mate. Nah, you most likely couldn't find one anyway. Or maybe you trick small Deinos or foreign dragons like Garchomp to waste their time with you."  
>I struggle to get back up, I'm not exactly sure if I understood what he meant, but t did sound very unfriendly.<br>Worthless. I manage to shakily stand, but my core feels almost hollow as I try to grasp enough power for an attack. My opponent grins. "I bet I don't even need my core to knock you out, I will simply smack you with my arms."  
>'Nothing left...'<br>I feel the lights fade around me and collapse onto the ground.  
>I embrace the darkness surrounding me, its welcoming touch and...<br>Its bittersweet end of my pain.

End of chapter 35. It's not over, right? I don't know. I feel like I could actually stop here. To be honest, I normally hate it when someone end a story like this, with a bunch of loose ends and so dark, but... I think I can now understand why some do that, at least for me it feels somewhat fitting. To release Drakke from the bound he made and let him rest (in peace?).  
>And I'm not even sure if could simply find a way to continue. Anyway, whatever happens next with the story, I'm glad you made it this far and sincerely hope you enjoyed the trip. It's a bit weird how you can start reflecting about yourself simply by taking a look at your own story, mine being so dark might be a bad sign... Sheesh, somebody light a candle or something, it's getting too dark here.<p> 


	36. Chapter 36

POV Shale

A plain, white field. 'No luck this time either.'  
>I slowly try to loose myself from the vision, but stop as a Hydreigon appears in front of me. 'Drakke?'<br>The dark dragon grins. "A pleasure to meet you, Shale."  
>'No.' I grit my teeth and turn around, throwing the illusion away with my tail. "Go away. You don't smell like him. Stop taunting me, whoever you are."<br>The figure melts while the temperature drops. "Why does the whelp care so much about you? You're strong, but I don't think that's the only reason."  
>I snarl. "None of your business, right? I..."<p>

A slap wakes me up and I see Rika is looking down at me. "You shouldn't keep in that state for longer than a few minutes. Why do you never listen to me?"  
>We both sigh and it takes me a moment before I jump onto my feet and hug her. "Rika! Finally up I see. How do you feel?"<br>The Gardevoir struggles to free herself from my grip and coughs. "I was not dead. Why were you so worried? And please stop pressing me onto you so hard."  
>I release her and blush. "Sorry, it's just so good to see you're up again."<br>The psychic type groans. "It was not that much of a big deal."  
>I shake my head. "Damage at your core and uncontrolled release of shadow energy? We have to thank that rich guy a lot, if he did not help us you would be dead."<br>Rika grins. "Still a weird guy. And we never found out who that Zweilous was."  
>"LouLou. Arceus, with another name I would say it could have been Drakke, but I can't believe he would have given up all dignity and call himself like that."<br>My team mate laughs. "I don't think the Zweilous would have listened if anyone actually called him like that. He even grit his teeth every time someone called him Lou. But Cara said Drakke died, he can't be it anyway."  
>I let my head hang down. "We talked about this before, haven't we?"<br>The Gardevoir snickers. "Last time I could only listen, it's nice to be able to talk too."  
>"You're really fine?"<br>Rika grins. "I wouldn't stand here otherwise, correct? The doctor almost seemed disappointed as I left though."  
>I grit my teeth. "He did not experiment on his patience again, right? I'm sure Eve told him not to."<br>The psychic type sighs. "Calm down. I can imagine even my normal readings were of high interest for him, there aren't..."  
>I quickly step forward and catch the Gardevoir as she starts shaking and collapses.<br>After a moment the half shadow recovers and carefully stands up. "Sorry. Like I was about to say, there aren't a lot of Pokemon in a state like this. I hope it will increase the efficiency of future subjects."  
>I slowly nod and try to relax 'Almost a whole month since the attack of Drakke... no, the attack of some Zweilous and she still hasn't fully recovered yet. On the other hand, it's almost a miracle she can stand on her own already.' "Don't get careless, you said we would hunt that Zweilous and if you don't allow your body to rest we can't do that."<br>Rika coughs. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I really want to anymore." She spins around and grins. "All in all, it could have been worse. I feel like the dragon loosened my chains and now I can live a bit more freely again. If I actually manage to recover and find him I might think him for draining some of the shadow energy."  
>I tilt my head. "Really? At least your talkativeness seems to have risen to new heights."<br>The Gardevoir flinches. "I can finally relax and think of something else than fighting without pain shooting through my mind, sorry if I talk to much."  
>I quickly shake my head. "I don't mind. When can you start training again?"<br>The psychic type giggles. "Depends on who you ask. I feel ready to slowly start, but the doctor would say I need an additional week of rest. Too bad I don't feel like listening to him."  
>I nod and walk to the door, leaving Wynn asleep on the bed. "Did she watch over you all night again?"<br>Rika sighs and nods. "She won't stop doing that until I'm strong enough to literally throw her out and keep her under control while I'm still asleep I guess."  
>"If she does not check my sleep instead. Care to join my training?"<br>The Gardevoir grins and we head to the new training district. 'How could a single Deino destroy the main engine of the old one without even breaking into seat? Why did we waste all his potential? I wish he could come back.'

We reach our destination and I barely avoid getting hit by a frozen glove as I step inside. "Do you really need to keep the anti-dark-dragon-guard on all day?!"  
>I grind my teeth as I hear the professor laugh. "First of all, shouldn't you have adapted to it by now? Just the fact you can still talks shows you survived, stop mourning. Secondly, you know we want to keep our standards up, if someone steps in and instantly gets knocked out he wouldn't survive the training anyway. It's for your own good. And thirdly, I'm glad you are back, Rika."<br>The psychic type looks around. "Did you improve the scanner or greet every Gardevoir like that?"  
>"You truly insult me, friend. Of course we constantly improve the scanner. And to be honest, your energy signature is rather unique, I would avoid calling it colorful though. Reminds me of..."<br>We hear his assistant through the speaker after something seems to have shattered. "You know Eve will take the repair cost for that monitor of the labor budget. Arceus alone knows why you keep the genetic information of the red spotted freak on the display anyway. Reproduction through scientific means becomes impossible after infusing the energy."  
>More violent noises follow. "You don't have to remind me, you smart-... Why is this still on? Feel free to start training, I might be busy for a while. Come here, you... !"<br>The speaker turns off and I shake my head while we walk further in. Rika clears her throat. "Our training options are a bit limited without their assistance, right?"  
>I step in front of a obelisk with a wide gaping hole and cough. "If some wild Pokemon can have an impact like that without extensive human help we shouldn't have to rely on them either. You should start with something easy. Maybe lifting?"<br>Psychic power grabs me and I hover several feet in the air while Rika laughs. "I'm weak, but not fully unskilled again, Shale."  
>The Gardevoir keeps me in the air for a few seconds before she allows me to stand on the ground again. I cough. "You're sense of humor has changed?"<br>"Not really, but you have the highest resistance against getting lifted. The only other object coming anywhere near yours is the damaged stature, and you seem lighter."  
>I move to an undamaged figure and launch it away with a swipe of my tail. Rika snickers. "At least one of us did never stop training." She suddenly seems a lot more serious. "So, is it true you are expected in the breeding ground today?"<br>I was about to split another statue in half with dragon claw and barely manage to renew the focus and dragon energy in my claw before the impact. "Who told you that?"  
>The psychic type grins. "What do you think? Maybe one of our extremely talkative shadow team mates?"<br>I groan. "Be careful with that sarcasm, you might hit harder with it than you expected. Wynn. But why?"  
>Rika scratches her head and drops two statues she mindlessly picked up. "I don't know. She likes to talk and almost a month of being unconscious or trapped in a bed does not help finding something to talk about." She shakes her head. "I neither knew what time it is nor how the weather outside was. So she talked about her own worries instead. And we share the top spot on the list of things she seems to be worried about. So, why does she even consider you wouldn't follow the order of going to the breeding grounds?"<br>I grind my teeth. "She knows I won't accept someone weak as my mate."  
>Suddenly Rika snickers. "So your mate should be stronger than you are? Or … ?"<br>I growl. "Or what?"  
>"Or stronger than that Drakke is supposed to be?"<br>I blink in confusion. "I knew him less than a week. He was more of a cute whelp than an option for being my mate. Why should I even consider him?!"  
>The strange smile of the Gardevoir clearly tells me I should have avoided that topic completely. "A whelp? If he was strong enough to demolish the last training facility as a whelp his strength shouldn't be too small when full grown. What was his species by the way?"<br>I can't suppress a smirk. "You were talking about my possible love and Wynn didn't even tell you his species?"  
>The smile of the psychic type vanishes for the blink of an eye. "How about a small tip? Is he a pure dragon type?"<br>My smirk grows. "Not exactly."  
>To my surprise her smile grows. "Not even a real dragon. Shame on you, Shale."<br>I snarl and split another statue, only leaving the already damaged one intact, more or less. "He is a real dragon!"  
>Not exactly the smartest behavior. "No pure dragon as a whelp, but still a dragon? Wynn did not remember the name of the species, so it can't be common around here... Gible? Nah. Give me a second or two to think about it."<br>I turn away and walk, to be honest, I run, to the exit, but psychic energy grabs me before I can get out of sight.  
>"Come on, just one more guess. Is he possibly from Unova?"<br>I slowly nod while hanging in the air. 'Lying would be useless anyway.'  
>Rika drops me and sighs. "So, Drakke was, or is, a Deino. It's awfully difficult to chatter about the most trivial things with you. Deino evolve to Zweilous, right? He might have been a worthy opponent for the one I fought."<br>I notice how the Gardevoir slowly starts shuddering and rush back to catch her. I manage to grab her as she is about to hit the floor. I shake my head. "Not ready for an interrogation, huh? I will get you to your bed, thorn."  
>I receive no response and slowly walk back to the door, Rika lying on my arms.<br>"We missed you in the breeding grounds today, Shaley."  
>I carefully set down the Gardevoir before turning to the Dragonite standing in my way. "That was today? Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought my appointment was tomorrow. Get out of my way, moron."<br>The male dragon shakes his head. "It should be an honor fr you to bear my eggs. You won't find any living dragon stronger than me."  
>I snarl. "Really? Funny, I believe it has been ages since you last trained. You're stupid and overweight. I would love to put you in your place, but I'm busy and you're not worth getting in trouble. Move aside."<br>The winged dragon steps forward and puts a claw under my chin. "You hide behind the excuse of not being allowed to attack me? Cute."  
>I push him away and growl. "If you don't get out of my way in the next ten seconds I will wipe the floor with you, pet."<br>He grins. "We will see who ends up on the floor, Shaley."  
>The orange dragon dashes forward, but I easily step left and run after him. 'he has potential, but it simply rots beneath all that fat.'<br>I hop forward, landing on my hands and slam my tail on his head. Eve's dragon grins. "Flexible and fast. I will enjoy you."  
>The moron flaps with his wings, trying to throw me off balance, then rams his head forward. I duck and steady my stance before slashing at his throat.<br>I only take mere seconds to enjoy the blood pouring onto me, stepping back as the Dragonite falls forward onto his stomach, most likely in a pathetic attempt to pin me. I quickly spin and guide dragon energy in my tail before hitting his head with it.  
>Giving him no time to recover I shred open his right side with dragon claw and slowly take a step back while licking his blood off my claw with a grin. "I finally found an use for you. You're a great punching bag."<br>The male coughs and spits blood. "I will get you for this."  
>I turn away and walk to Rika still cleaning his blood off my arms. "Really? You will tell Eve how you failed knocking me to the floor? Because you did not train in ages? Somehow I doubt that."<br>I carefully remove the last bits of blood before picking up the Gardevoir and head to Rika's room.

After resting the psychic type on her bed I walk to the baths. 'It's not like I don't enjoy the feeling of blood on my scales, but Cara keeps telling me she won't accept the odor of dry blood. It's easier to do as she commands than continuously argue with her.'  
>I sigh as hot water slowly washes dirt and blood off my back while my muscles relax. 'And as long as we have warm water washing isn't too bad.'<br>I take my time cleaning everything off, this gives me a nice excuse to keep hot water running down my side. 'Warmth. Like a heat source in a blizzard. I miss you, Drakke.'  
>I shake my head and turn the water off. 'He is gone, the dream could not be true.'<p>

After sating my hunger I carefully step into Wynn's and my room and see the Flygon is still asleep. Or maybe again. I grin and lie down on the coach, she has earned herself some rest. I slowly nod off. 'Might not have been the smartest idea to leave Eve's pet bleeding on the floor. But I can't accept any mate. Or can't I accept any other mate?'

End of chapter 36. To be honest, I have no idea if any female would actually act like Shale. Don't believe I understand any female... Anyway, I felt like I should shed some light on Drakke's other old team (and his possible romantic interest, if he ever figures out what that means), so... uhm, yeah, there you have it.  
>Kinda feel like a a moron for not even considering asking any friend for help. I still hope you enjoyed the chapter though.<p> 


	37. Chapter 37

POV Sori

I know this is only a dream, but...  
>Drakke leans forward and presses his head against mine with a grin. "You seem stressed. Should I help you with that?"<br>I'm sure he will return. Meanwhile I can only wait and dream about what could happen. I grin. "Anything particular on your mind?"  
>The Hydreigon moves behind me before carefully pushing me to the ground. "Don't worry, I'm sure I know a thing or two to keep your mind off your trouble, beautiful." He slowly licks up my neck while his wonderful hot body presses against mine. "And we have all night long to see what you like most, right?"<br>I'm starting to pant and nod. "Nobody would dare to interrupt us, hot scales."  
>I turn my head a bit and see his red scales shimmering in the moonlight while the dark dragon chuckles. "A snack wouldn't be too bad though."<br>A low moan escapes my lips as my love begins nibbling at my neck and I feel like the temperature continues to rise. "You're insatiable."  
>Drakke carefully lies onto me and smiles. "As are you. We all carry an insatiable need for something, love."<br>I blush and moan as his snout presses against mine. "Really? And what desire of mine do you see in such a way?"  
>The red scaled dragon laughs and pushes into me. "You can't get enough of me."<br>It's just a dream, but it's better than nothing, especially as it could become true someday. Drakke speeds up and I moan as bliss fills my body until I feel as if I could burst.

Something smacks me on the head and I leap forward and try to rip open the throat of that annoying Salamance who barely manages to evade. The numbskull simply grins while I glare at him. "You had a nice dream, huh?" He shakes his head. "Moaning in your sleep... Did you dream about me?"  
>My dragon pulse hits his left wing and I hop onto him, my hands holding his claws on the ground while I snarl. "I told you not even to think about that, bird-brain. Why do you disturb my rest?"<br>The winged dragon grins. "The boss told me to remind you how dangerous the wilderness can be. And I think it's legal to say you should consider settling with the second best offer if you can't get the best one."  
>I grit my teeth. "There's only a small problem."<br>The Salamance continues to grin. "What is it, Sori?"  
>I slam my head against his and growl. "You're nowhere near the top of that list. Now go away before I dye your scales crimson with your own blood."<br>I move off the flying dragon and sigh as he runs out of my room. 'I don't get it. First Drakke shows no interest in breeding with me, then he gives a scale to free me. He tells my former master he would be interested in mating me if I grow stronger, but does not return to check if I did.'  
>I enter the dining room and snicker. 'The only person on board who is even more confused is the weird human. The scale looks good, but carries no genetic information? He said a lot more weird stuff, but I guess in a nutshell it simply meant the scale is worthless for him.' I look down and sniff before a wide grin appears on my face. 'At least that meant I get to keep it and can carry it around as a necklace. It even still has a bit of his scent on it.'<br>"Same as always?"  
>I laugh and shake my head, despite the cook being unable to see me. "No, give me a Drakke special, it's not like we could get in trouble for using the rations."<br>I hear the human groan. "Missing that glutton so much it gets unbearable again?"  
>I don't reply and just wait for the buffet-sized meal to arrive, it's an almost random mix of every Drakke ate here, but strangely not a single plate does not taste great, alone or in combination with something else. I try to remember every motion Drakke did while eating and mimic it to the best of my abilities, but every time a drop of energy leaves my grasp it just reminds me I will always remain his scholar all my life, if he knows it or not.<p>

Following my daily routine my next stop is the gym. I carefully pull of Drakke's scale and leave it close to the entrance. I won't risk damaging the only memento hot scales left while training.  
>I glance to a target and slowly form a sphere of dragon energy in my mouth. 'I might not be able to surpass his strength...'<br>My pulse smashes the figure into pieces and I cough. 'But I should be able to drive away any rivals for the position of being his mate.'  
>"Impressive training. Like always, beautiful."<br>I growl and turn to the Salamance. "You're too lazy and someone has to check if everything is ready for possible usage."  
>The winged dragon chuckles. "And smashing targets shows you if they are fine? Anyway, how about some variety in your training? We could play a game of tag."<br>I snarl. "I would enjoy a sparring match so much more."  
>He grins. "Full contact? Gladly."<br>He leaps forward and tries to tackle into me, but I dodge to the left and sear his back and wings with flamethrower. My opponent laughs. "Fire? Do you try to do minimal damage or heat me up for possible after-match activities?"  
>I growl. "No, I just want to keep you suffering longer."<br>The Salamance opens his mouth and releases a beam of dragon breath, but I quickly grasp at my core and counter with dragon pulse. After some experimenting I think I figured out how to use a tiny bit of typeless energy with every attack, not even worth mentioning in comparison to the amount Drakke seems to casually use, but enough to put some extra force behind an attack.  
>My attack easily overwhelms his beam and I dash forward as he groans in pain while the pulse hits into his open mouth. I follow up by letting my left hand bite into his throat while my my right one grabs his left arm. As the Salamance tries to drop on me I roll left and throw him away.<br>The winged dragon remains on the ground and coughs. "Enough sparring for one day?"  
>I turn away and slowly move to the door. "That was all you got? Pathetic. You're not strong enough to have the slightest chance against me, so why should I consider doing anything with you other than using you as a target for my attacks?"<br>I pick up hot scales' scale and leave before he gets a chance to answer, I don't expect one anyway, and head to my room.

I quietly lie down and sigh. 'Another day without Drakke. Where is he?' A small grins appears on my face. 'And how will he try to make up for being too late?'  
>I sniff at his scale before slowly nodding off.<p>

End of chapter 37. The beginning was a bit too... explicit for my liking? I guess that's one way to put it. But it was just too fitting for Sori not to use at least a small extract. I see it mostly as an interesting mix of desire, melancholy and a drop of loneliness. ("At least that's what he is telling himself..." Keep your mouth shut!)  
>Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, next one should return to Drakke.<p> 


	38. Chapter 38

Shatters of ice fall onto me and I groan in pain as pure energy seems to saturate the air around me. A black and a white shape appear in front of me and growl. The darker colored one points at me. "See? I told you that ice-covered, empty weakling has been looking for a champion."  
>The lighter one nods and grabs me at the neck. "So you did not only imagine things for once, Zekrom. Doesn't matter, you're still only a dream chaser. I feel Kyurem's touch, but why should he be interested in someone so weak our mere presence makes him suffer?"<br>Zekrom pushes the other one away and shakes its head. "If I'm such a pathetic lunatic, why did you not find him first? Or notice how he feeds of our energy, Reshiram?"  
>The white one takes a few steps back. "He does what?!" It pauses for a moment. "Right again. You're constantly surprising me tonight. It's not enough for him to become a threat, but unusual to say the least. How long until his core would burst by being filled too much? At this rate a few minutes?"<br>The black dragon-like figure laughs. "It won't. The overflowing energy gets directed into his body, that somehow makes him groan, not our presence. He's a fascinating specimen, a pity empty has gotten to him first."  
>I build a new cage out of ice and try to seal the two figures in my dream, their power hurts, but it helps me keep conscious.<br>My trap shatters before it is even fully set. The white shape grits its teeth. "Greedy. I would love to punish you for that, but it would be against the rules." I turns to the other one. "Our truce ends as soon as we leave this dream."  
>"Of course, truth."<p>

My body aches and burns. I slowly open my eyes and see I'm lying in a puddle of mud and blood, it seems to have rained while I was knocked out.  
>I cough and spit clumps of half dried blood before getting up. I glance at my body and shake my head. 'I look like a bloody mess, I don't think I will even be able to get all of the dirt off alone... Maybe Sori could help...'<br>I twitch. 'Is she even back? Hopefully she is not too angry if I come later than she expected.'  
>A quick glance up to the sun and I head south. 'I probably won't make it today, at least that should give me sufficient time to think of a way to apologize...'<p>

"Wait!"  
>A Haxorus steps on the way behind me and coughs. "You're pretty difficult to find. No wonder with a territory as large as yours though."<br>I turn around and tilt my head. 'As mine? Why do other dragons constantly refer to my hunting grounds as if I would own them? The area is too big for me to cover it alone, not like I tried to. But I guess I know where this is going...' "So? You're one of these weird challengers that want to devour my core and claim my territory?" 'I have no idea why every dragon I met said that, sounds almost like a ritual to me.'  
>The yellowish dragon nods. "Exactly like you did to the previous sovereigns."<br>I blink in confusion. "Previous ones? Are you talking about that senile Hydreigon or the weird black Haxorus?" 'Everyone else said that strange challenger-rite-stuff, so I guess it had to be one of these two.'  
>The pure dragon growls. "Both were rules of an area, which means I can easily feed my future mate and whelps after being done with you."<br>I try to smile, at least he shows spirit, and these challengers did offer a lot more fun than simply hunting breakfast, maybe I can finally get some satisfaction out of it again. 'Why do we have to... ?'  
>My shadow energy suddenly reacts and pains suppresses the questioning before it can trap me. 'I should check on that after later. Ouch.'<br>My smile widens as blood lust raises in me while my opponent snarls. "Stupid intimidation through useless black sparks and eyes won't work."  
>He dashes forward, seemingly determined to cut me apart as quickly as possible. I dodge to the left and spin, letting my left hand bite his neck. My opponent seems unable to handle the additional momentum and I sent him to the ground, hitting his head with a dragon pulse as he tries to get up again.<br>I grin, it's a little bit distracting to allow the shadow energy to guide me, but easier than with the strange feelings that haunted me after Aken's death. Ouch.  
>I focus on the other dragon and see he is slowly standing up, slightly shuddering. He grins. "Was that all you've got?"<br>My laughter does seem to intimidate him now. "I was just getting started. Attack!"  
>The Haxorus actually seems to obey me as he runs forward, both claws glowing blue. I grasp at my core and form a sphere of energy in my mouth. As the dragon gets in reach for his dragon claws I fly backward to avoid the swing before rushing forward and slamming my head against his. My opponent flinches for the blink of an eye and I take the chance to release my dragon pulse up close while his guard is down.<br>The Haxorus stumbles back, but I follow up by wrapping my teeth in ice and bite his throat while my hands grab his wrists. Putting more energy into my ice fangs I hear how my so-called-challenger coughs and whimper as his airway closes of with ice.  
>I let go and grin while my opponent collapses, slowly choking as he is unable to destroy the ice shutting his lung off air. I suppress the shadow energy and take a deep breath while his twitching slows down. "Rest in peace."<br>The Haxorus stops moving and I rip open his chest, swallowing his core. 'You shouldn't waste such concentrated energy.'  
>After a moment I notice no images fill my head and slightly bow in front of the lifeless dragon. "It was a good fight." 'Maybe this weird rites aren't totally useless after all. Certainly helps to calm down my mind.'<br>I take his heart before continuing moving south.

"Don't you dare to trespass through my lands without my permission!"  
>'Why do these guys always have to get in the way when I'm busy getting somewhere?' I glare at the older Hydreigon who has stepped, hovered, in my way. "I saw no line or sign that said this belongs to anyone." 'Not sure if I could have understood it anyway.' "I'm a bit in a hurry, someone might be waiting for me, this does not need to end with your death."<br>The other dark dragon growls. "Really? You're not just some annoying challenger trying to claim my land and such?"  
>I snicker, not the wisest action I guess. "I already eh... accidentally claimed a large enough hunting ground, no need to expand it anymore. Now get out of my way."<br>The Hydreigon snarls while our hand grit their teeth. "I don't buy I, whelp. I'm not going to turn my back on you."  
>I dash forward, anger and shadows veiling my sight. 'Even experience can only help to a limited amount if the body isn't fast enough to react.'<br>My head slams into his stomach and my satisfaction rises as the old one gulps before leaning forward. I fly back and barely evade the three heads snapping at me.  
>'It's your fault you die now.' Pain flows through my head as I try to focus again. 'Mercy is weakness.'<br>I step to the left and evade his dive at me, my right hand biting into his lowest right wing as he passes by. 'But mercy means salvation...'  
>I grasp at my core and let my energy flow into my body slowly extending my shadow aura as my opponent hits the ground. 'Thinking only hinders your ability to fight.' "Clumsy, huh?"<br>The Hydreigon furiously swipes and bites anything in his reach, not a fitting description for me luckily as I quickly draw back. 'But without a mind we are little more than without our core.'  
>I slowly form a sphere of energy in my mouth while staying out of his reach. 'I should ask someone who has greater knowledge on that matter.'<br>The dark dragon's attacks become more snatchy and I release my dragon pulse as he drops his guard to increase the range of his swipes. My attack throws him back and I dash forward, biting his throat while my hands bite his wrists. My shadow aura quickly envelops him, revealing dozens of wounds in the blink of an eye. I put more pressure into my bite as he groans in pain. 'Shale is smart and knows a lot about shadows, she has met a few after all, right? But how could I find her... ?'  
>My opponent's pathetic remaining defense fades and I rip open his throat before getting off him. "I do not want to claim your hunting grounds. But you're really too old to keep on fighting."<br>He growls in return, blood dripping out of his mouth. I shake my head. 'Why is it so difficult to give up?' "Rest in peace."  
>I knock him over and devour his core while he is still twitching and continue south in a hurry, if I'm lucky I might be able to at least get to the Pokecenter tonight, I need a good nap to figure out a way to say sorry.<p>

It has been dark for a longer while now, but I don't feel too exhausted and did decide only to stop in the center.  
>Finally I see the pass-through-house and take a deep breath before stepping in. 'Nobody here.'<br>I tilt my head and look at the lights flickering over a black screen. 'Being able to read those would be really useful I guess. Whatever.'  
>I leave and head to the Pokecenter. 'I'm wondering if there would be less trainer if these weren't scattered throughout every continent I know. Or if you had to pay the nurse... how do they sustain themselves anyway?'<br>I enter the building and smile toward the human behind the bar who starts shuddering. "A place to rest for a while would be nice."  
>The pale female nods. "No problem. Audino! We have a new guest!"<br>The normal type runs into the hall and stumbles as she sees me. I hear her whimper. "The murderous Hydreigon. Don't kill me."  
>I grin. "No need to worry, I already had enough for today." 'And killing someone here might have really unpleasant consequences.'<br>In response the female calms down, a bit at least. "Then it might be a good idea to keep you well fed. I think we have a solo room left. If not I will throw someone out of one, we don't want you to scare more persons than necessary."  
>Lucky for anyone who already slept in one the normal type finds a free room and locks the door behind me. I shake my head. 'Does she try to offend me?' "You're aware this wood wouldn't stand a chance against an attack of mine?"<br>I hear nervous chuckling on the other side of the door. "It's not to keep you in, it's for keeping suicidal idiots out. We will unlock the door after the first wave of trainers has left. Please, show a bit of patience if you notice the door is still locked."  
>I don't respond and simply lie on the ground. I wait for a while before I sigh. 'Do they see all Hydreigon like this? Or is it because of the color of my scales?' I slowly shake my head. 'It doesn't matter what humans or some pathetic Audino think about me. I wonder if Shale or Sori miss me?'<br>I nod off.

End of chapter 38. Drakke's perspective might not be the most pleasant or the easiest to write in, but at least for me it feels easier than that of any female. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	39. Chapter 39

"A wild Hydreigon comes here and you won't even allow us to see it?! I would pay you a fortune just for the chance to catch it!"  
>I slowly open my eyes. 'Maybe I simply met the two most cowardly persons when I got here?'<br>Another voice, calmer, but with a hint of fear. "You're almost begging for pain if you want to catch the red scaled Hydreigon. I heard it has no soul."  
>I twitch while the first voice laughs. "No soul?! You know it is said to be extremely powerful, of course it has a soul!"<br>The next voice might be the Audino from yesterday, they sound kinda similar to me. "One look in his eyes and you know something is wrong. Clouded, pitch-black, but at the same time filled with fire, red as fresh blood. And please don't scream, you might wake him up."  
>'Too late...' I shake my head. 'Who cares what they think about me?'<br>"Really?! The door is locked, and if he comes out... "  
>I tackle into the door and someone screams in pain while a human and an Audino step away from me. "The door was locked? Sorry, didn't notice that." I carefully put pressure on the door and the screams increase in volume. "Thanks for waking me up, scum. I will get my food somewhere else, good bye."<br>I rushed out of the Pokecenter and blink as sunlight blinds me for a moment. No humans running toward me, only a few away. I take a deep breath and glance at the ocean. 'The ship of that weird human. And I still have no idea how to apologize...'  
>I gulp and slowly move to the dock. 'I will let her pick what she wants... Maybe some exotic, tasty meat? Milotics are said to taste great...'<br>I stop in front of the ramp to the ship and hesitate to walk in. 'If she has already forgotten me it would be very unpleasant to burst in like this. I will just wait.'  
>I sit down and yawn, a bit more sleep wouldn't have been too bad.<br>"Waiting for something?"  
>I look to the Salamance glaring at me from the water-vessel. "You just let anyone in?"<br>The winged dragon growls. "You can be quite memorable. Especially... Whatever, come in already!"  
>I follow him in and see he has several bruises. "Had a pleasant sparring?"<br>The Salamance growls. "Could have been better. Do you really think you deserve her? That you're able to keep her satisfied?"  
>I blink in confusion. "I will try to keep her sated and trying to survive should keep her fit. I hope she will enjoy her freedom."<br>The blue scaled dragon glances over his shoulder. §Freedom? You give a scale, but won't mind if she leaves you?"  
>My confusion grows. "I guess I wouldn't enjoy it, but I won't force her to come with me. I wanted to give her something nice and freedom certainly is, right?" I gulp. "She does not believe I bought her, right? It was only supposed to be a gift..."<br>Nervousness accompanies my confusion, but my guide does not respond.

"Go in, I don't think anyone needs my presence for that rite."  
>The Salamance walks away before I get the chance to say thanks and I take take a deep breath and move inside.<br>"Hot scales!"  
>A Hydreigon rushes against me and sighs. I grin while Sori's scent and presence seem to almost overwhelm me for a moment. "You did not forget me. It's wonderful to see you again."<br>The dragoness does not respond and simply remains pressed against me for several moments, only enjoying my presence as it seems, but I don't mind.  
>Suddenly she draws back and grins. "You look like a bloody mess. Doesn't take you too long to achieve that, huh? Maybe we should take a bath after being done with this."<br>She blushes and shudders while I slowly nod. "Gladly. So, do I need to do anything?"  
>The human who has been silently watching us clears his throat. "Not exactly. I found two ways to release her. The newer one simply says I would have to break the Pokeball. Any other idiot with enough capsules, will and a strong enough team could catch her again though.<br>The second one is rarely, if ever, performed today as most Pokemon seem unable to perform the needed tasks, I thought it might interest you anyway though. It claims the connection between trainer and team is formed, but not maintained through the capsule. To really destroy the bound we would need to physical strengthen it, renewing the connecting to the ball before the Pokemon would need to consume it. That is said to make it impossible to catch her against her will, but like I said nobody used it for a while.  
>After some... financial convictions I found a few volunteers to test the rite, but... not one managed to perform it. One Eevee almost died as the capsule returned to full size in its throat, a Venipede disabled the ball and fled,..."<br>He coughs and blushes. "And the record of the rite between one trainer and his female Gardevoir is getting sold for several thousand dollar on dark places... Why did they have to send me a free copy?"  
>The man shakes his head. "Anyway, I'm sure we won't have to go that far. I guess I won't make it out alive otherwise."<br>I don't think I understood the last part, it was a bit too lengthy for my liking, but Sori should be able to handle it, right? I tilt my head. "Someone pays to see a human and a Gardevoir hug each other? Weird."  
>The dragoness grins. "Guess they shared more than a hug, huh? At least that explains the noises coming out of your room, master. Maybe we should check the record for a vague idea how the rite works?"<br>The blush of the human deepens and he waves with his hands. "No! That won't be necessary!" He slowly nods. "And they forgot to use her ball... at least how it was supposed to be used." His nodding speeds up. "Yeah, it would be an extremely bad example. So..."  
>He offers Sori a white capsule, her own I guess. Without hesitation she swallows it and grins. "Now to the physical part, huh?"<br>The man simply takes a step forward and hugs her. "It was a pleasant experience to have you around, Sori. I hope you get happy out there."  
>The female Hydreigon nods while a drop of water runs down her cheek. "I won't forget you, master."<br>They stay together for two moments or three before she starts snickering. "You get any profit out of the selling of that record? Not like you're not already rich enough."  
>He steps back and laughs. "Thinking about it... It kinda way my idea, right? A bit more money would not hurt. Feel free to use any part of the ship you want to while you're around. Farewell."<br>Sori nods and leaves the room, half chuckling, half crying. "I knew he was weird the day we met. Zekrom help me, humans can be so strange."  
>I quietly follow her, she will talk to me when she's ready, I guess.<p>

"The baths! We definitely will need more than one to get all the dirt off you." Sori grins. "Well, the Audino are going to hate me after we are done. Come in, hot scales."  
>I nod and move in, almost ramming into a sign. "They should be careful where they put these."<br>The dark dragoness leans against my back and growls. "Do I really need to kill one of them before they stop putting it here? I will enjoy ignoring you, sign."  
>I look over my shoulder and blink in confusion. "You can read these?"<br>"Of course, it's simple Un..." The Hydreigon sighs. "Or it might not be so normal for a wild Pokemon. It says if you have a certain amount of dirt on your body you should take a dive into the ocean and clean most of it off there first. But salt is a lot more painful to wounds than the water here. And it's colder outside, even though you probably wouldn't mind too much for that."  
>She presses harder against my back and pushes me into the sign, easily breaking it. "This most likely will be our last hot bath for a while, please don't spoil it, hot scales."<br>I slowly nod and try to relax and suppress the shadow energy which sends pain through me to keep me on guard. I trust her, Sori won't harm me, right? The Hydreigon lays down some kind of charm she wore around her neck and guides me to one of the water holes. I curiously glance at the object while the water starts rising. "What's that? Looks like one of my scales."  
>The dark dragoness blushes and leans against my back. "It is. Your scent is still on it and... helped me to some pleasant dreams." Her blush deepens. "Very pleasant dreams."<br>I lightly rub my head against hers. "Really? What did you dream about? Some way I could help them come true?"  
>The Hydreigon pants and slowly draws back a bit. "They couldn't without you. But let's get that dirt of you first, hot scales."<br>She pushes me deeper into the water and won't let me up until the liquid turns muddy reddish. "Like I said, it will take several holes to get you clean. Come, the Audino will clean up later."  
>I followed Sori through several rounds until only a very thin layer remains on my scales. The dragoness snickers. "Guess I will have to rub the rest off."<br>I quickly dodge her and grin. "And it seems like I have to help you too now. You shouldn't have leaned onto my muddy scales, beautiful."  
>Sori blushes and glances at her brown front side. "It's not too bad. But if you insist..."<br>I think I act more out of reflex and instinct as I move to her back and press against it, lowering her body under the water while I nibble at her neck. "You would do the same for me." I pause for a moment and snicker, but quickly continue to... massage her? I think Sori called it like that. "You already did, right? Just relax."  
>The Hydreigon slowly nods and seems to calm down a bit, she strangely continues to pant though. 'The water isn't that warm, right?'<br>I take my time cleaning her back, but it still doesn't take long, she's not really dirty here. The dragoness suddenly tenses up as I try to turn her on her back. "You already helped a lot, no need to do any more."  
>I silence her by pressing my snout against hers, I saw a human do that to another one once, and it seemed to work.<br>Like I hoped Sori's resistance stops and I carefully rub and lick the dirt of her torso. It's a bit weird she tenses up again and starts to moan as I pass over her stomach, but the Hydreigon seems to enjoy it, so I continue.  
>Reaching what mother called last protection scale I get a bit nervous though. Mother only growled at me to only clean my own and only it while I'm alone, so I guess it has to be very personal. On the other hand, Sori seems to be completely enjoying the cleaning-massage so far and I don't want to disappoint her by stopping before she's absolutely happy.<br>The dark dragoness has closed her eyes while I cleaned her, but opens them as I slowly lick over her scale and some sweat liquid leaks out. "What are you d... ?"  
>I accidentally lick of her juice which results in a moan interrupting her question. "I'm sorry. Should I stop?"<br>Sori pants and shudders. "Would you like to continue, hot tongue?"  
>I hesitate for a moment before I very slowly nod. "It's kinds sweet, and nice, but I feel like I shuldn't enjoy it..."<br>I draw back, but Sori's tail carefully lays behind my head and pulls me in while she smiles. "You like me, right?"  
>I quickly nod. "A lot."<br>Her smile widens. "A lot? Then this isn't wrong at all. Please continue."  
>I hear some sort of need in her voice and quickly obey her, I don't want to make this any worse for her.<p>

Despite trying a few different way and slowly speeding up I don't manage to get her to relax. Instead Sori grows even more tense as clean the scale which strangely seems to twitch. Still, her tail keeps me in place. 'It's a bit weird, but... I like the taste and I think she does get some sort of pleasure out of this, too.'  
>Finally I seem to have loosened her up as the dark dragoness shudders and her tension fades away. More of the liquid leaks out and for a short moment the scale pulls away and reveals... a wound of some sort I guess. I swiftly clean it, I shouldn't get sloppy just because Sori isn't reacting to the massage anymore.<br>As soon as the Hydreigon's gaze returns to normal she quickly hides the wound behind her scale while her tail releases me. "That was a bit... unexpected. Pleasant, but unexpected."  
>I grin and try to savor the new taste. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the wound. And if you need help cleaning it I will gladly offer my assistance."<br>The Hydreigon blinks in confusion for a moment before her blush deepens again. "Wound? What wound... wait, you actually..." She shakes her head. "You licked my..." She shudders. "I guess it's not that bad. I did tell you to continue... But keep it a secret for a while, okay?"  
>I nod, guess it must be shameful for her to have such a deep scar under her scale. "I won't tell." I tilt my head. "But this might have taken longer than expected. I think we have to skip cleaning the last bits of me for a while."<br>I carefully help Sori out of the water. "Come, freedom is waiting for you."  
>For a short moment the dark dragoness seems disappointed about something, but she quickly shakes it off and nods with a wide grin. "I won't be able to repay my debt if you don't stop acting like that. I truly owe you a lot."<br>I shake my head while the Hydreigon takes the lead to guide me outside. "You don't owe me anything. It was a gift, I really don't expect you to give me anything in exchange. You're free to go as soon as my company bothers you."  
>Sori glances over her shoulder and looks truly hurt, sometimes I honestly think I have no talent at all for talking. "I'm free to go? You wouldn't care if I guide you out and leave after doing so?"<br>'Why do my words never achieve what they should?' I move closer and lay my head on her shoulder while slowly extending my heat aura. "You're free, I never intended to bind you to my side." I sigh. "But that does not mean I wouldn't like you or wouldn't miss you if you leave. I just wanted to say you can choose on your own where you want to go. Forgive me if I sounded like I would want you to leave."  
>Sori groans. "Forgive you?" She stops and rubs her head against mine. "I can't even get mad at you after that.. massage."<p>

We move on in silence for a while until the Hydreigon clears her throat. "So, tell me, is there already someone waiting for you in your cave? Some other dragoness you might mindlessly upset by bringing me along?"  
>She tries to sound relaxed, but I think I hear a tiny bit of worry underneath her usual teasing, so I take a moment to consider every word of the question. 'I'm pretty sure a simple no won't be sufficient.'<br>I take a deep breath while Sori slows down a bit. "No, there is no specific cave I call my home that contains anything, especially nothing I would care about as much as I do about you." 'The only other dragon I know that would fit the description would be Shale I guess, and I don't think I can find her again...' "To be honest, my hunting grounds did lack anything distinct interesting." I grin. "That will change with you around, huh?"  
>Suddenly my mood drops and I sigh. "The last week or two were more interesting, but also considerable more unpleasant than the first two. I met a few old friends, but convinced them to leave."<br>I can't suppress a small whine, I shouldn't have brought them up. "You have to sacrifice some things to be free..."  
>Sori stops again and turns around, slowly pressing her head against mine. "They will come back if they really care for you."<br>I shake my head and struggle not to allow the shadow energy to roam through my mind and drown my sorrow in pain. Pain is so much easier to endure. "Not all. Some can't return..."  
>The dark dragoness sighs and keeps her head against mine. "Some see too much in too little time. Come, we should at least leave this huge chunk of steel today. Let's just get to the Pokecenter, you can show me your hunting grounds tomorrow."<br>I slowly nod, faded shadows running through my mind, but too weak to keep me up, so I lean against Sori while she guides me out. 'I'm weak. Why did I allow her to accompany me? I can't protect anyone...'

I barely notice how the Hydreigon drags me into the Pokecenter and lays me onto the bed. I roll off and lie on the floor. "If you want to use it, do so. I think it's more comfortable down here."  
>The dark dragoness nods and puts herself next to me. 'Why can't I simply suppress or forget?'<br>Sori' calming presence helps me nod off.

End of chapter 39. Another mixed bag I guess. Did I already state I'm not responsible for the action of any character in the story, right? If I didn't, I saw it that way since chapter.. 4? Somewhere around there I guess. I will make sure to put it into the new prologue/first chapter. And as I most likely won't change the after-chapter-stuff for a long time, if the first chapter you read was purely out of a Hydreigon's point of view, that's the hopefully newer and better version.  
>Back to this chapter, I really hate myself for putting such a long monologue into it, but I couldn't really help it, I did not want Drakke to fall asleep...<br>Drakke's breakdown was somewhat predictable if you consider stress, pain, loneliness and the other unpleasant stuff he's been through. Luckily we have Sori to sweeten the fall, huh? I hope I did not take in too many cliches, they got kinda hard to evade after a while.  
>Hope you enjoyed the chapter.<p> 


	40. Chapter 40

"Wake up, hot scales."  
>Sori rubs my neck and I slowly open my eyes. "I'm an awful companion." I shake my head. "And I will depress you on your first newly-free-day."<br>The dark dragoness smiles and pulls me up. "Don't be like that. I asked for some food and see what they brought us!"  
>I glance around while my nose struggles to identify all the different scents of food. "We are surrounded." I fake a grin. "Should we give up, beautiful?"<br>The female Hydreigon snickers and shakes her head. "No! We will eat our way out or die trying!"  
>I look to Sori. "You're familiar with all this food? You have traveled a lot I guess."<br>The dragoness grins and takes a bite. "I saw a lot of water, but you most likely did see more of the country side. Truth or dreams gave you their blessing, huh?"  
>I was about to devour my first plate, but stop and blink at her in confusion. "Truth or dreams? That sounds kinda familiar... what wasn't there a third one? What was it called..." I tilt my head. "Empty?" I shake my head. "You know more about these? Titles, myths or what?"<br>My companion smiles and points toward the food. "I will try to explain if you eat while I do."  
>It takes less than the blink of an eye for the first bite to dissolve in me.<br>"My clan wasn't real religious and I... left before I even got the chance to fulfill the major rites, so I can only explain the very basics."  
>I nod. "That's fine, my mother did not seem too religious either."<br>Sori grins. "Found an area you're lacking in after all. Anyway, unlike for example the inhabitants of Sinnoh we rarely pray directly to Arceus or the masters of dimensions. Instead Unova is almost perfectly split between those who believe in truth and those who follow the dreams. It's said they even influence your dreams if you're strong enough."  
>She laughs, but blushes a little bit. "I don't seem strong enough though, as my dream are about... other things. Like I said, truth is said to appear in pure white, depending on the story maybe a few burning marks, while dreams is black like a moon and starless night, I heard a few that said blue lightning would flash on his body though."<br>I tilt my head. 'Why does this seem familiar?'  
>"A final clash between them shall decide if we follow our mind or our heart." She coughs. "At least that's what I remember."<br>I blink in confusion. "And what role does that weird empty have?"  
>The dragoness weakly smiles. "The third party in a war with only two sides. There isn't that much talk about it, greyish, covered in ice, all in all cold and uncaring. While truth and dreams somewhat resemble ideals empty seems to be the lack of these. I don't think anyone really follows it, there is no hope for salvation or real rest if empty... wins? Not sure if you could call it like that, you can't win if you don't fight, right?"<br>I feel some weird cold seep into me and grit my teeth. "Every ideal is void, nothing is true, hope a lie."  
>Silence follows for a moment until I clear my throat. "I'm sorry, no idea where that came from. Life would be unpleasant without hope or certainty..."<br>The female Hydreigon quickly nods. "Without dreams or truth there would be no reason to do anything."  
>'No reason to fight? To suffer? To throw your life away? Void is peace, whelp.'<br>I shake my head. 'Now you're even bothering while I'm awake?'  
>No response, but Sori blinks at me in confusion. "You don't agree?"<br>I take a moment to think, but don't get any satisfying idea. "I'm not sure. Do you need to dream about something to enjoy it? I like food, but I don't dream about it... not constantly at least. Still I want to eat. And truth..."  
>'Freak!'<br>I shudder. "I guess even truth can be somewhat up to the point of view. So, is there truth at all?"  
>The dragoness hesitates for a moment before pushing a plate in front of me. "Your talk is too deep. Maybe it will get lighter if we fill your stomach. Eat up, hot scales."<br>I swallow the food and snicker. "Heavy thoughts for breakfast, huh?"  
>Sori grins and nods. "Exactly. So, how long will it take us to get to your hunting grounds? Could someone else have claimed them by now?"<br>I shake my head. "Depends on how fast you can travel. And it's unlikely, any challenger would need a day or two to look for me, I guess, nobody would claim them without carefully checking if I might return, right?"  
>The Hydreigon tilts her head. "Seems logical. Let's go, you can tell me what to expect on the way."<br>She moves to the door, but I step in her way and snicker. "No sea food you want me to get for you? As an apology, I was late after all."  
>The female shakes her head. "I appreciate your offer, but I had enough fish for one lifetime."<br>We leave the Pokecenter and beach without getting into any trouble. Or causing anyone else trouble, which would have been a lot more likely I guess.

We fly in silence for a longer while, the sun has long passed its zenith, besides the frequent, boring chatter of our hands.  
>"So, hot scales, how much longer will it take us to get to your territory? Not much longer, right?"<br>I respond the Hydreigon's answering glance with a wide smile. "Want to rest for the night? We don't have to hurry."  
>The dragoness groans. "just answer my question."<br>"We won't make it before sunrise."  
>The female Hydreigon coughs while signs of her exhaustion become more obvious. "Really?! Then a good night of sleep wouldn't be so bad after all I guess."<p>

It doesn't take us too long to find a cave and I take the inhabiting Zubat as a quick snack, which Sori strangely declines. "They really aren't that poisonous. You're sure you don't want any?"  
>The dragoness shakes her head again. "I'm not hungry. And you eat these often?"<br>I blink in confusion and nod. "They are an easy prey and nice as a snack before sleep. And I ate them often enough to know they aren't poisonous. My scales start itching a bit if I eat too many though."  
>Sori lies down and laughs. "Your scales itch? Don't tell me they shed off after a while."<br>I move next to her and nod. "I think that happened... once, I guess. That memory is kinda... shady."  
>The female twitches, but starts giggling after a moment. "My unique hot scales. Sleep well."<br>I yawn. "Good night."

End of chapter 40. Short (very short), no action, to be honest it feels a bit boring, but... if every chapter has a giant fight it get boring, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	41. Chapter 41

„Two sleeping Hydreigon! We will be rich, Alan! Stop, don't run off!"  
>I open my eyes and see how Sori is struggling not to burst out in a laughter. I glance over her neck, careful not to alert the human and grin.<br>"Get back here, you pink coward! They can't be that tough, we are still too southern for real powerful ones."  
>My companion giggles. "Ready, hot scales?"<br>"Of course. Let's get ourselves breakfast."  
>We simultaneously leap at them and I knock the trainer to the ground while Sori chases after the fleeing Musharna. I snarl at the two-legged one. "Resistance is futile. Just hand over all cans with food or we will eat something else."<br>The human shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but we're out of anything edible. Please, let us go, we won't bother you again."  
>I sniff at her clothes and bag. 'No food?' I growl. "Where did you hide your rations? No human walks around without some sort of food."<br>My captive nods. "Under normal circumstances not, but..." She gulps. "I lost all my money gambling, there was nothing left for rations. We hoped the next Pokecenter would stock up our equipment if we bring them enough Pokemon."  
>I grit my teeth. "These capsules are cheaper than a meal?!" A moment of silence follows. "Wait. The Pokecenter buys Pokemon? The Audino are no volunteers or something like that?"<br>The human slowly nods. "Buying, selling trading. And if a Pokemon doesn't seem profitable to keep it ends in the cans."  
>Our chatter gets interrupted by Sori who throws the knocked out psychic type besides us. The dragoness coughs. "It's way easier to corner someone in a hall or cave than out here. Should we eat her team or does she have any food?"<br>I snarl. "We take her team. Never bite off something if you can't swallow it, human."  
>The pathetic two-legged one faints while Sori takes a bite from her pink victim. I get off the human and tilt my head. "We should release them first, give them a small chance to escape, right?"<br>The dark dragoness hesitates for a moment before she nods. "If you say so. Where did she put them?"  
>I rip open the human's two outer layers revealing skin and, more importantly, six capsules. Three give off no scent, so I ignore these empty sphere and pull off the other ones. "Let's see the rest of her team, huh?"<br>I throw the balls onto the ground and barely notice how an Accelgor rushes away while a Klinklang and a Tropius look around in confusion. The steel type turns his attention to me first. "What did you do to our mistress?"  
>'Blah, steel always has an awful aftertaste.' "We taught her not to wake up sleeping dragons."<br>It doesn't seem too phased. "I see. Our... buggy companion has fled?"  
>I nod. "Within the blink of an eye. You can go too, if Sori agrees." I turn to the female Hydreigon. "Or do you like the taste of metal?"<br>She shakes her head, but the gear-like Pokemon moves in front of the flying grass type instead of away. "Not without Planty."  
>The Tropius groans. "I hate that name, stop using it!" He turns toward us. "We won't go down without a fight!"<br>Sori grins. "Lovely. A delicious fight against a tasty opponent. Too bad the wheels are in the way." She glances to me. "Was that good?"  
>The steel type's gear speeds up and it dashes forward while the sunlight suddenly gets stronger. I dodge right to avoid the Klinklang's attack as a bright beam hits me. I shake off the weak solar beam and grasp at my core, setting my fangs ablaze, as a short yelp of Sori distracts me.<br>Out of the corner of my eye I see how the steel type grinds on the dragoness. The second solar beam is as weak as the first one was, so I ignore the flying grass type and dash to my other opponent, biting into the quickly rotating vertical ring. I hold on tight and slowly drag it off while it's small teeth dig in my flesh. Sori quickly moves out of under the gear and her arms grab the two smallest parts of our opponent. She coughs. "You can be pretty fast, huh? But for how long?"  
>I struggle to hold onto the increasingly wet metal while more and more of my energy flows into my attack until my blood instantly dries as it makes contact with my opponent.<br>Finally the gear slows down while another solar beam hits me. I let go and take a deep breath while the dark dragoness throws it to the ground, following with a dragon pulse. The Klinklang stops moving and Sori dashes to our other opponent who has froze in fear.  
>There seems to be no resistance as her left hand grabs the throat of the flying grass type and throws him down. After another deep breath I grin and fly to them, ice wrapping around my while while I grin. "Don't worry, I will make this quick."<br>My ice fangs bury into his neck inches away from his head and our opponent quickly goes limp. I rip out and swallow the first chunk of meat. "You truly grew stronger, beautiful. A bit more training would be beneficial though, I guess."  
>The female Hydreigon blushes and nods. "Luckily I have a wonderful mentor to teach me."<br>I hesitate for a moment before ripping open the Tropius's chest. "Do you want the core?" I grin. "Best part of the hunt."  
>The dragoness blinks in confusion. "What do you mean? Devouring someones core is only a metaphor."<br>I carefully focus and pull a small orb out of the chest. "Then what exactly is this?"  
>Sori flinches and I sigh. 'Not normal at least I guess.' "How do you do that?!"<br>I gulp down the object and cough. "I told you how you're able to control food in your body, right? This kinda is an advanced form of that, I guess. If someone is way weaker than you are and you have access to the vital thingies you should be able to feel how energy is pulsating and flowing between those. After doing so you... eh..." I tilt my head. "Sorry, I have no idea how to continue, it just... happens. I'm not a good teacher. Sorry."  
>The dragoness pushes her head into the wound. "Nothing left. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be able to compromise someone's remaining power like that. Who taught you this?"<br>'Nobody?' "I'm not sure. I did not receive a lot of training in that aspect..."  
>'I won't waste time teaching you anything advanced if you can't even get the basics right.'<br>I shudder. "But..." I felt how something did guide me as I bit into Rika's core.. I shake my head. "It was a lucky shot I guess. And if you managed to do something once it's only a small step to master it, right?"  
>Sori hesitates for a moment before she grins and nods. "If you say so." The dragoness looks around. "The human left, huh?"<br>Her absence makes that kinda obvious. I nod. "We should finish our breakfast and get going. It's cold, but the body still consists of a bit energy."

The rest of the morning was pretty boring, we continue to fly in silence a while after the sun has passed its zenith.  
>"How did you get the idea to claim yourself a hunting ground?"<br>I grin. "It was accidental. The previous owner got a bit paranoid and attacked me on sight, so I killed him in self-defense... and some of the prey has to have noticed the fight as few days later my first challenger appeared. News spread fast, I guess."  
>The female Hydreigon tilts her head. "But no dragoness came here and asked to stay?"<br>I take a moment before I nod. "None. I occasionally smelled one when I woke up, but... they always seem to have left quickly."  
>Sori snickers. "You're not that intimidating in your sleep." She seems to think about it for a moment. "No hints?"<br>I clear my throat. "I'm not sure..." 'Why is she always so interested if it comes to other females?' "I think one told me I would talk in my sleep and it would be a shame I was already... taken?" I shake my head. "I'm awful in memorizing stuff only half-awake, sorry."  
>The dark dragoness grits her teeth. "You did not dream about me, right?"<br>I slowly nod. "I did not. Should I have done so?"  
>The female Hydreigon nods for a few blinks of an eye before she seems to calm down a bit and shakes her head. "I could not have expected you to do so, hot scales." It takes a moment before she continues, blushing. "You do like... females, right?"<br>I blink in confusion. "Huh? I guess I like females as much as males. Do you feel fine?"  
>The dragoness nods while her blush deepens. "Perfectly fine. You're... you... did not know what you were talking about as you suggested my ex-master we would mate?"<br>I very slowly nod while trying to figure out why she seems so upset. "Not exactly. I thought it may motivate you."  
>My companion sighs in disappointment. "I see. But... eh... you do think of me as..."<br>I tilt my head. "A nice friend and companion? I already said so."  
>Sori suddenly holds onto me and stops before she turns me around. "No. I didn't want to ask you that. Am I... appealing for you?" She slowly spins around and I look at her with increasing confusion. "I'm in shape and good looking, right?"<br>I don't react. 'Why is she acting like that?'  
>My confusion rises to new heights as the dragoness pushes against me, rubbing against me. "Not attractive?" Suddenly she lays her head on my shoulder and starts sobbing. "I'm just a good friend, nothing more, nothing less, huh?"<br>I'm clueless how to calm her down, so I just stay on spot and hope she will on her own eventually. It takes a few moment, but finally Sori stops and draws back. It looks like she just wants to leave, so I quickly move forward and hug her. "Could you slow down a bit, beautiful? Give me at least half a moment to react, okay?" Instead of a response the dragoness sobs again, so I lean closer and lightly nibble at her neck. 'This always helps loosen her and forget about her trouble, right?' "You're wonderful, a great example how a Hydreigon should look like and I truly enjoy your company while it lasts. Don't be sad or mad at me, please."  
>I receive a sigh as response and put more effort in my action. "I could massage you again if you like."<br>Sori slowly turns her head and shows me a weak smile. "Like last time?"  
>"I think there even a small well I could heat up. It's a bit off though."<br>My companion's mood luckily seems to rise. "So nobody could disturb us. You let me... massage you as well?"  
>I blink in confusion, but quickly nod so she doesn't get sad again. "If you enjoy doing it I won't hinder you. Is your wound healing fine?"<br>Her smile seems kinda strange, but I think I should give up trying to read her. "Not really, but I think I heard of a medicine to quicken the healing. It requires your help though."  
>I slowly nod. "Whatever is necessary to speed up your recovery. We won't make it to the well today though. Let's get going again."<p>

We don't talk for the rest of the today's flight, but Sori hums and grins, so her worries are gone... Right? Like I expected we only make it to the very southern frontier of my hunting grounds before the sun sets, so I guide my still happily humming companion to the nearest cave. Our dinner consisted out of a tiny pack of Sawsbuck , which I was rather glad about, if Sori wants to continue on alone later she has to keep healthy and eat enough.  
>"Good night, hot scales. Will we get there tomorrow?"<br>I shake my head and carefully glance over to her. "You're pretty eager for your massage. Is the wound hurting a lot? Don't worry, it's not that far from here, we will definitely make it in less than a while. Have a nice rest."  
>The dark dragoness nods and lays her head on my back. It does not take long for her to fall asleep and I smile. 'Home, but not alone for a while. I hope at this rate she will soon be ready to find something on her own. Guess I could lent her a part of my hunting grounds for training purpose...'<br>I slowly nod off.

End of chapter 41. Keeping a fight with several participants somewhat... in order? Everyone in check? It's easy to see, but hard to describe what I mean, for me at least. Guess I'm not really that good with words. Anyway, nobody complained about anything for some time now, I'm kinda curious how much I would need to fail at a chapter to get actual negative, and maybe even constructive, criticism. It's a bit tempting, but... on the other hand... hmm, maybe on...  
>Hope you liked this chapter.<p> 


	42. Chapter 42

Blood drips onto the ground, scales slowly falling off. „Mother..."  
>I shake my head. 'No, not this dream. Not again, everything was going so well...'<br>I grasp at my core, pushing more energy into my body, somehow trying to suppress it. Pain. It doesn't work...  
>There seems to be a sudden change, the air surrounding me feels tainted, decay and death surrounding me. I shake my head again while my vision blurs and shadows whirl around me.<br>"Freak!"  
>Energy lays onto me while I hear weird, new voices whispering into my ear. They sounds kinda like myself, but... different. "You're growing restless. Let, us, help."<br>I twitch and shake my head. "I'm not. Everything is great."  
>Pain. Stinging through my scales, through my flesh, infusing agony into me. "Liar! You did not endure all this to live in peace, right?"<br>I slowly nod as a faint hatred returns. "Maybe. But I'm busy... Sori isn't ready yet."  
>The energy soothes my pain a bit. "Don't underestimate her. She seems weak, but being weak does not equal being defenseless. Besides..."<br>The blood steadily seeps into the ground. I'm alone. Did I find it?  
>Faint memories as I smell on the gloves. Did I find a home?<br>No, I'm alone...  
>"It won't take long, he's just a pathetic human after all. How could he stop us?"<br>A faint scent of Garchomp wraps around me, petting me, trying to calm me down. "Shale?"  
>It takes the blink of an eye before I collapse on the ground, pain immobilizing me. "She does not care about you! They all left you to die, rot on your own."<p>

I'm unable to move. I struggle to free myself and open my eyes, noticing how Sori has pinned me down and snarls at me. "Who is Shale? Why did you dream about her?!"  
>I try to break free without hurting my companion whose belly and chest are heavily bleeding, but don't succeed. "Shale is, was a Gabite and a previous team mate. But I didn't exactly dream about her. It was more about..." I hesitate for a moment. "Taking a journey. Alone. It feels like I need to go..."<br>The dark dragoness retreats a bit and her voice cracks. "But, but we just got here! You can't leave me already! We didn't even ma-... make sure I'm prepared!" She sobs. "You still owe me a complete massage... you promised. You spoke about her, so she has to be special for you, right?"  
>I evade her glare and stare to the ground. "She was... wonderful. Smart, strong, gifted... perfect." I shake my head. "But it doesn't matter, more than just distance keeps us apart you could say. And I can still massage you when I return, right? Your... other wound did not seem to hinder you, so it won't need immediate attention... right?"<br>My companion continues to sob. "No. You're trying to find her?"  
>I shake my head. "No. And I sincerely hope I won't see her on the way." I rub my head against hers. "You're ready, I simply distracted you in the last fight, else you could have easily won on your own. Think you could keep my territory in check while I'm gone?"<br>Sori slowly nods. "I will try."  
>"But please don't go all out in a fight, you're way more important than some stones, trees and water."<br>The dragoness slightly blushes. "I know when to stop, don't worry. Unlike you. Have a safe journey."  
>I grin. "Bye, beautiful. Until we meet again."<br>I'm about to go as the Hydreigon holds onto me with a deep blush. "Could I get a new memento? I... I'm sorry, but I forgot your scale on the ship. I was too distracted to pick it up after our bath."  
>I slowly grab onto another scale as suddenly pain shoots through me. 'Don't waste yourself like that!' The weird voices continues friendlier. 'A scale wouldn't be special enough anyway, right?'<br>I slowly release the scale. 'The voices are right. It wouldn't be enough...'  
>I sigh, nothing really would be. Another moment later I slowly lean my head against Sori's and lick over her snout. "I will obey you for a whole day after I get back to make up for this. Would that be okay?"<br>The dragoness groans. "It's no memento."  
>I hug her and wind my throat around hers, slowly licking her cheek. "I know you can't hold onto this, but I'm unable to find anything worthy for you as a present. I like you."<br>We remain intertwined for a while, I feel some weird necessity to go, but it certainly does not feel good to do so. As I finally find the strength to leave the head of the dragoness drops and she starts sobbing again. I quickly fly off and only faintly hear her whisper, unable to understand her.

Why do I need to go?  
>'You want to. You need the thrill, just give into your blood lust.'<br>I need control... Pain.  
>'You chose this, don't turn back. Fight!'<br>"Get out, off my way."  
>I give the Salamance no time to react, I simply let my left hand bite into its throat as it turns around while the sphere in my mouth grows as fast as my anger. "Don't stand in my way"<br>The winged dragon coughs. "You gave me no chance, moron. Let go, freak."  
>'No mercy.' Rage flows through me, I don't want to think... 'Obey. Kill. Return. Home.'<br>Something moves me, guides me as I let my hand bite open his throat and throw the flying dragon away. 'Weakling."  
>I lose control, no, I just let go. I, my body rams into my opponent and my hands rip open his chest before he pushes us away.<br>"Leave me alone, freak!" The Salamance struggles to stay up, his blood saturating the ground. "Hyper-aggressive moron. Why did you attack me in the first place? There was no reason."  
>'We, don't need, reason. Our reason, flows through, his veins.' My body dashes at him, I'm unable to stop, I don't want to. Ice wraps around my teeth while the winged worm barely evades the bites of my hands and slashes across my chest. Fangs pierce into his throat.<br>More energy flows in my attack, shards pierce out of his neck, coughing, chocking. I slam him to the ground and let my head hang downward, crimson liquid dripping out of my mouth. I spit clumps onto the ground, trying to clear my air way before digging in his chest, swiftly ripping out and swallowing his core.  
>After a last agonized scream my opponent stops moving and I collapse like a puppet cut off its strings.<br>'Follow, us. It, will get, easier.'

I remain lying on the ground for several moments, slowly recovering from getting dragged over my limits. Unable to keep up my normal speed I just move into the first cave I can find after sunset. I feel lightheaded and let the pulsating feeling of pain lull me into my sleep.

End of chapter 42. To be honest, I don't like this one very much, feels way too forced... and too short, but still had to do it to get the story forward. Blah, no fun to write something like this.  
>On a completely unrelated note, I just want to remind you we're still following the perspective of a soul-devouring, cannibalistic and often bloodthirsty dragon.<br>"Hey!"  
>It's true. Just for those who root for him, you may want to take a sec to think about that.<br>Still hope it was somewhat fun to read.


	43. Chapter 43

'How can I find him?' I open my eyes and shake my head. 'It would be so much easier if the humans couldn't change so rapidly. The voices are all similar and their skin can change from one moment to another, so I have to get close enough to smell his foul odor.. But where to start?'  
>I remember a warm wind stroking over my scales...<br>'Orre. But how to get there? First of all I need to cross the.. it was called ocean, right?'  
>After a short moment I start to grin. 'Humans are weak, it should be easy to convince one of them to help.'<p>

The day passes by pretty boring and I rest the night in a cave not far from the beach, it's weird, but I feel uncomfortable thinking about sleeping in a Pokecenter.

'What do you want?'  
>Pain. "I want, I need more strength."<br>'Why do you reject us?' 'What do you want?!'  
>The pain grows stronger. "Strength."<br>'You need strength, but you don't want it just to have it.' 'What? Do? You? Want?'  
>I can't concentrate, all my thoughts drift to the pain rushing through me. "I don't understand."<br>My scales get torn off and I shiver in fear. "Mother... I want to spill the blood of that worthless two-leg!"  
>The aching stops and I slowly relax. 'Finally. Of course you want to. Stop neglecting your purpose. You have to fight, eliminate him.'<p>

I open my eyes and nod. 'And nothing can stop us.'

I reach the docks as the sun reaches its zenith and snarl at a human who just left his ship. "Are you sailing to Orre?"  
>The man nervously laughs and shakes his head. "In this nutshell of a boat? No, the first bigger wave who sink my lady."<br>I glance to his vessel. It's tiny in comparison to the other ones I was on, but a Goldeen can swim as good as a Gyarados, who would have thought size matters? "Then tell me which one is capable and will leave soon."  
>The human looks past me, guess he considers his chances of fleeing. "The Wasserfalle is the only one strong enough to survive the open sea, but her captain isn't so foolish to sail out while the storm season isn't over. The winds can get brutal in fall."<br>I grin. "More dangerous than an enraged Hydreigon? I should be able to convince him. And you will tell me where to find him."  
>The man twitches. "Ich werde nicht Rotschuppe zu ihm führen. I don't want to kill him."<br>Anger. Protecting each other? Lie.  
>I snarl. "I will make it easier for you. Two options. We take your boat and try it or you tell me where to find the human with the superior boat."<br>Flying lower, ready to stop the human when he tries to flee.  
>Moments pass. 'He won't flee? Won't risk getting hurt in the process. Surely.'<br>But the human steps back on his ship, shaking. "Ich tausche nicht mein Leben gegen ein anderes." His voice cracks. "It's suicide, but I can't betray a friend. Come on the ship, we will sink before our rations run low, so I won't bother refilling them. We can immediately get going."  
>I slowly nod and follow him, curious what pathetic trick he will try to use. "How long? Until we get, to Orre?"<br>He twitches. "Three or four days. Most likely longer. The fish on board is enough for five, if you don't eat anything. The water refresher might be able to work for a week non-stop before it breaks. But we will sink long before the next sunset..." He shakes his head and chuckles. "Seems like the bird was right, I didn't expect to die like this."  
>It takes a while until the vessel reacts to its master and the human has to perform several small rites to awaken it. Finally we start moving out, but as we lose sight of the docks and other ships his boats stops. I growl. "Why? Tell!"<br>The man twitches. "I'm sorry, this will be the last interruption."  
>He stops to a small box and opens it, carefully taking a clear figure out of it. Reminds me of the dragon I saw in my dreams a few times, but... it does not look exactly like one of them... even a bit.. damaged. The human does not move, silently whispering to himself.<br>I suppress my first impulse of rip it out of his hand and force him to move on, this can't take very long, right? Instead I to glance at the object. It's made out of ice, not glass which was my first guess, and slowly melts as he holds onto it.  
>Claws. I grit my teeth and glance at my chest. Weird coincident, but if the claws of it were bigger it may fir with the marks I got in Sinnoh. I close my eyes, but open them again as I hear the human leaving the room.<br>I rush after him and see how he drops the figure off the ship.  
>"Please protect me on this journey, guide me." The sound of the waves makes it hard to understand the last sentence. "Keep me in balance, oh frozen dragon."<br>'Why does he not want it anymore? The design was pretty interesting.'  
>The man turns around and grins as he notices me. "Guess I'm not even worth attacking after that scene, huh?" He walks past me while I blink in confusion.<br>'What was the meaning of that? Why does he think he just lost worth? And why does he suddenly seem so confident?!'  
>I take a last glance at the shape out of ice which is slowly drifting away from us while the vessel speeds up again. A sudden wave swallows the figure, but it surfaces again before a second wave makes me lose sight of it and I shake my head as a feeling of loss rushes through me. 'Maybe I should help the human a little bit.'<p>

End of chapter 43. Didn't turn out the way I thought it would as I started working on it, but I'm kinda confident the end is nice. Hope you liked the chapter.  
>Just ignore the gibberish of the human, no need to translate it.<p> 


	44. Chapter 44

Up.  
>And down.<br>Up.  
>And down. I twitch and slowly open my eyes. 'Why does everything feel so unstable?'<br>I struggle to find some sort of balance, but the ground constantly shifts... awkward. I slowly try to get up, but quickly sink to the floor again. 'Does the ship hate me because I threatened the human?' "I'm sorry, U just needed a way to get to Orre."  
>No reaction, and I still feel sick. "Could we please try to start over?"<br>It's either deaf or very malevolent. I cough. "If you don't stop it's very likely for me to throw up on you, and neither of us would like that, right?"  
>Threats don't seem to work at all, or maybe it knows I'm lying? I never keep a lot stored in my stomach. Bah, the last time I felt like this was when I bit the frog... "I hate you."<p>

It takes me a longer while or two before I finally find the strength to get up and slowly crawl in the head of the vessel. 'I can't remember how he called it, and I'm not sure I really care either.'  
>The human grins as he notices me. "Didn't you say being on a ship is no problem for you?"<br>I groan and grit my teeth. "It wasn't before. The stupid ship hates me."  
>The man laughs and pets the wheel he holds onto. "My lady hates nobody. You're seasick, mein Freund. You shouldn't worry too much about it, another day and you will feel no difference to solid ground. We will most likely sink before that happens though."<br>I cough, barely avoiding emptying my stomach in the process. "If we make it through this storm everything will be fine. And stop speaking in weird languages."  
>With a wide grin the man picks up a metal pole and pokes me. "Du kannst mich in deiner jetzigen Verfassung nicht daran hindern, mein Freund. I will enjoy this situation while it lasts."<br>I growl. "You should think about the payback I may give you in return."  
>The sadistic human laughs. "Carpe diem. We will most likely dworn soon, no need to think about tomorrow."<br>I bite into the stick and break it apart. "That's a pretty twisted look at life."  
>The man grits his teeth. "Hey, we might have needed that!" After a moment he waves his hands. "Whatever, doesn't matter. Why do you not just break the windows while you're at it? Undankbares Vieh..."<br>I growl and throw one of the metal pieces at the glass, piercing it and cracking most of the surrounding area. "My pleasure, no need to thank me."  
>The human twitches and stares at the hole for a moment before he glares at me. "Das war ironisch, du mieser..." He takes a deep breath. "I hope you end in eternal damnation and pain, agony rolling through every fiber of your body, never to find rest. The void shall neglect you."<br>I blink in confusion. "Sure that wasn't a bit too dramatic?"  
>He continues to glare at me for a few moments before putting on a metallic glove and tearing out the damaged glass.<p>

After he is done he shakes his head. "It doesn't matter if we make it or not, I'm ruined."  
>I grit my teeth. He sounded really disappointed and I'm feeling kinda bad for damaging his vessel, but why? He's just a human after all.<br>The silence last for a while and I'm really getting uncomfortable with it. I clear my throat. "That figure you dropped off yesterday, who made it? Looked interesting."  
>The man clenches his teeth for a moment. "A good friend. Why would you care? The infamous red scales surely has sided with truth."<br>I blink in confusion and try to ignore the stupid name. "I didn't... I think. Why did you throw it away when a friend gave it to you?"  
>"You're following dreams? Surprisingly. I didn't just throw it away, I gave it to the sea. It's a tradition to sacrifice like that."<br>I cough. The nausea slowly gets bearable, but my increasing confusion doesn't feel a lot better. "I follow a certain dream, but I don't think we talk about the same thing. Throwing frozen water in... watery water sounds strange. And kinda pointless."  
>The human sighs and shakes his head. "It's symbolic, Hohlkopf. You didn't decide yet whom to choose?"<br>I snarl, not sure what he called me, but it didn't sound nice. And the constant weird questions start to give me a headache. "Symbolic waste of time. I decided not to choose, stop bothering me with that."  
>The sun is slowly setting, bathing his grin in red light. "Liar. We will stop for today."<br>I nod and follow the human.

"Don't move, we don't want to pierce through something vital, right?"  
>'Why did I agree to this? He's going to kill me with these needles. I hate his grin...' "If you trick me I will kill you."<br>The man laughs and rams the first needle in. "If you kill me you will miserably starve here. I read a lot about this, don't worry. Manche Abbildungen waren jedoch etwas verschwommen..."  
>I snarl and try to snap at him, but my body won't react. A mix of anger and fear arises. "What did you do?! I knew I shouldn't trust a human. Undo that!"<br>He only pets my head and grabs a second needle. "I will, as soon as I'm done with the therapy. It may hurt a bit and I can't allow you to twitch. Or rip off my hands. This is a highly precise art, mein Freund."  
>The second steel object drives into me and suddenly everything seems to consist out of pain. I try to writhe and whine, but only succeed in the latter. "Please, make it stop."<br>He pulls it back out and pets my head while I take a deep breath. 'I'm going to skin the moron alive as soon as we make it to Orre.'  
>"Arceus! Oh, I'm so sorry, I missed by less than an inch. 'Tschldigung."<br>He slowly pushes it back in and I feel how my body relaxes and turns numb.  
>"No pain this time? Good."<br>It's extremely weird, normally I subconsciously suppress the pain of shadow energy pulsing through me, but it just seems to be gone now. Another deep breath, as deep as the strange paralysis allows me to, and show a small grin to the human. "Thanks."  
>The man laughs. "A kind word? Where did my previous patient go? It will return to normal after I'm done, so enjoy it while it lasts."<br>I only notice out of the corner of my eye how he pushes a few more in, it's strange to see something happen to your body without feeling it.

"And that's it, you will either feel no nausea for a few days or writhe in pain unable to move. I wish the book didn't fell into the sea. Before I read it."  
>I guess I should hate him for that remark, but the lack of pain makes it pretty much impossible. He carefully pulls out the second to last needle and my familiar aching returns. But my stomach no longer seems to feel like leaving me, a clear improvement.<br>After another moment of hesitation he pulls the last metal object and jumps backwards. He's not fast enough to escape me though and I quickly grab him. "You found it funny to keep me helpless like that?!"  
>The man twitches. "Kinda."<br>I hug him until he is barely able to breath and keep him like that for a short moment before moving back. "I still think you're just a pathetic human."  
>He coughs. "I knew you would do that. I bet you will spare some of your precious time to kill me in our inevitable demise. Now let me get some rest."<br>He leaves and I soon fall asleep.

End of chapter 44. More gibberish, only important thing is how it aggravates Drakke. A lot. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	45. Chapter 45

Ouch. 'What's going on?' I snarl. "Leave me, or die, in agony."  
>I open my eyes and growl for a moment, but quickly stop as a strong feeling of nausea returns while my surroundings shift around, a lot. I collide with the wall, again I guess, and try to crawl away from it, failing miserably as the floor rises into an almost diagonal position. 'Maybe I should wait here.'<br>My plan is torn to pieces as the ground lets me slide out and I have to hold on to the door to avoid ramming into the human.  
>"I told you this would happen."<br>The annoying shifting stops for a short moment. I grin. "We made it. We're, still alive."  
>Gravity suddenly seems to stop and I hit the ceiling as it returns.<br>"Dream on, we aren't even halfway through. Don't get your hopes up."  
>I groan while the shifting continues. "And, the weird, stings stopped, working. Worthless rubbish."<br>The man glares at me. "You think now is the right time for jokes?! I disabled parts of your stomach, it's said to last for a week! Anyway, while you're here, why don't you help with the water pouring in? Keeps us afloat a bit longer. Ahnungsloser Parasit."  
>I grit my teeth. "Why don't you just close the hole? Right, pathetic humans can't."<br>I slowly and carefully crawl to the damaged window. As I get there I grasp at my core and wrap ice around my teeth before reducing the size of the hole with several bites. "Guess, we are lucky, the water is, so cold, huh, human?" How do, you normally, deal, with, the water, already in?"  
>He just stares at me for a moment, but quickly turns back to the control-wheel-thing. "Pray it won't get too heavy to sink my lady. You didn't hesitate to use ice fangs. Not feeling uncomfortable using it? Or staying in the cold water?"<br>I shake my head. "Not really. Could I, just make, a hole, in the ground, to get rid of it?"  
>The human twitches. "No! How's the chance you heat the water up without setting anything on fire? Maybe the steam could leave through the hole you made."<br>I ignore the first signs of exhaustion my body shows, eating almost nothing to keep the human working might have been a bad idea, and build up a large heat aura to get the water boiling. 'It may hurt him, but it was his idea, shouldn't disable him from getting me to Orre, right?'

Several moments later we, he has to face another problem he didn't think off.  
>"For Arceus' sake, am I really the only person around here who is able to think?! Why did you not remind me we can't see anything while the glass is covered in steam?!"<br>I stop and sigh, warming larger amounts of water like this is way more exhausting than I imagined at first. "With, all this, up and down, of the stupid, ship, and the, increasing amount, I have to, heat up, as my lock, broke, I thought, I could leave, the decision making, to you, for a while."  
>The man shakes his head. "I should have listened to myself, we were doomed from the start of this. Verfluchte Hoffnung. I've got no clue at all where we are!" He groans. "And my legs are going to kill me if I don't get to a doctor soon. Curse you, red scales."<br>I try to leap at him, but can't find enough strength and land in the quickly cooling water. "I hate you."  
>The human grits his teeth. "And I hate you, nutzloser Idiot. Keep your mouth shut and pass out."<br>I snarl at him for a short moment, but soon everything turns dark and I reluctantly follow his order.

End of chapter 45. Don't get me wrong, I like ships, their grace, how they served as a mean to transport for centuries and still do today, but... I'm more into appreciating these from, y'know, far away. So I'm glad we made it past this trip, which will be the last one for this story.  
>Hope you enjoyed the chapter.<p> 


	46. Chapter 46

Steel pierces into me.  
>"It's exotic, might actually be worth something. If it has any life left inside."<br>A moment of silence.  
>"What the...Where did you pick it up?!"<br>"Eh... At the coast, like always, miss..."  
>The female voice seems angry. "Don't expect me to buy that! I give you one more chance, where did you get it?"<br>"We... we found it lying next to a foreigner on the dock... he was still alive, but had no Pokeballs on him."  
>'Get up!'<br>"Really? You fools stole from a thief. It carries shadow energy, so we should be able to hand out a satisfying reward. Come back next week."  
>"Thanks, miss."<br>A door opens and closes.  
>"You have to be extremely pathetically weak to get carried away by a human, but team abyss is always happy to extract the energy back out of weaklings like you."<br>'You're useless.'

Grass beneath me. A calm breeze shakes the leaves of the trees. 'Not real.'  
>"Long time no seen." A Xatu stands in front of me and points around. "Beautiful, isn't it? I achieved perfection, if I may say so myself."<br>I snarl. "Who, are you?"  
>The psychic bird sighs. "Can't remember me? 'Course not, nobody pays attention to the messenger boy, leave alone remembering him.."<br>I tilt my head. "You expect, me to, pity you? All, you did, up to this, point was, waste our, my time!"  
>He groans. "As honest as always, huh? The message did not help you yet?"<br>"No. I'm, alive, don't try, to eat you, and got the chance, to admire your new, surroundings. Happy?"  
>The Xatu twitches. "I should have seen this coming. Literally." He bows. "It was refreshing to see someone as unimpressed as you for a change. You're rather deceptive for a dark type."<br>I take another look around. "You put a lot, of effort into this, huh? Its easy' to see. Good job."  
>The psychic flying type twitters. "Thanks. Farewell."<br>He disappears, but leaves a large pile of food in front of me. I grin. "You're welcome."

"Wake up, worthless scum!"  
>I open my eyes and blink in confusion while a bunch Trubbish walk around me. "It's alive!"<br>I'm lying between several other Pokemon, most of them in an only slightly better condition than myself.  
>"Really? A load without useless corpses, maybe she learned her lesson after the last disaster. Get them inside, we're on a tight schedule and you're all aware of that."<br>Half a dozen of the poison type pick me up and start to move me toward some mechanic device, but a human steps in their way. "Don't bother scanning this pathetic worm, just get it to the drainer before it dies. Can't be powerful enough to become a shadow."  
>'Where am I?'<br>My carrier change direction and walk past the weird, open-door-looking thing which gives off a weak biep as we pass.

"Could, someone, explain this, please?"  
>The greenish Pokemon slow down a bit and the one holding my head chuckles. "Why not? Keeps us busy and your mind off your coming demise. The drainer will suck out your soul and add it to the pool. That gross energy gets injected into other Pokemon, turning them into shadows. Shadows..."<br>I groan. "You're, no shadows, right?"  
>He laughs. "Correct."<br>"Don't waste, your breath, then, I will ask, a shadow, instead. What, happens to, those who, resist?"  
>'You can't.'<br>"Nobody did, guess it's not possible."  
>'Overwhelming. No way out.'<br>"We don't bother with the techno babble. It's kinda scary imagine getting trapped inside someone instead of dying though."  
>You die, we free. You trapped, torture continues...'<p>

"We made it! Let's hope Arceus accepts used souls, huh?"  
>They shove me into a tiny chamber and shut the door while the walls start glowing.<br>Suddenly something pierces into my back and I feel a weird, weak pulling on my core. My power slowly drifts out of my reach. 'No!'  
>I quickly hold onto it and drag it back. Kinda feels heavier now though.<br>The extremely strange, and also seemingly one-sided, fight goes on for a while and I feel how my wounds rip open again as more and more of... my core returns? I'm pretty sure I did not loose that much of it...  
>"Extraction complete. Report about unusual fast energy flow gets send..."<br>I cough and spit, trying to stay awake while the walls continue to blink in an extremely annoying way.  
>"Error. Mailbox full."<br>The lights turn off and I sigh.  
>'Calm down!' 'We were here first!' The next bit seems to be directed at me. 'Curse you, vessel!' 'Too many!'<br>The pain gets worse and everything fades away.

"How could it get so heavy?! Sure the machine worked?"  
>"It was on and put to automatic, 'course it did. Stop slacking and help us!"<p>

"Dead's end. Finally. Put it in and and close the door, that smell gives even me nausea."

I wake up on a pile of meat of various species. 'Breakfast!'  
>I take a bite and twitch. 'No energy left? Weird.'<br>I still eat up until I can't take any more mass in. After sating my hunger I move into a corner away from the door and fall asleep.

End of chapter 46. How to call this? Transition-chapter? Most appropriate I guess. Anyway, the story is coming to its end, hope you enjoyed it.


	47. Chapter 47

'Wake...' 'Get up!' 'Rise and...'  
>I shake my head and grit my teeth. 'Silence!' My head starts aching while the mismatched chant of voices continues to talk, and mostly complain. 'Who, are, you?!'<br>'Nobody.' 'Anyone.' 'Many.'  
>'You, were... less, last time, we talked?'<br>'We talked?' 'They talked.' 'It seems like you thought it would be wise to... take in a few more. Stupid idea.' 'Did he think? Choose?' 'Instinct?'  
>I snarl. 'Keep it, down! Why are, you talking, frequently, now?'<br>'He's losing control.' 'Good.' 'Bad!' 'Your defenses are weakening. We always reached out, but you didn't notice before.' 'Don't worry, we won't harm ya.'  
>I open my eyes and glance at the crimson liquid surrounding me. 'Really?'<br>'You can't keep all this different, contradicting power inside and expect nothing to happen. Your body can handle it.' 'Should be able to handle it long enough for us to do what we came for.' 'I'm sure he did not forget yet.'  
>I slowly stand up and try to shake off the dizziness. I feel weaker than a fresh whelp and stronger than ever before, extremely weird.<p>

After a lengthy breakfast I leave the chamber and sniff. 'The human's, stench has to be, somewhere around here... No, they smell to similar.'  
>I'm about to give up as I notice... another scent, good smelling, but also not pleasant. 'Shale? No, it's old, she can't, be here.' I shake my head.<br>'She left you, tried to kill you. Don't fall for her again, vessel.'  
>I let my head drop. 'You're right, I should hope not to see her again...'<br>Suddenly the image of a pair of gloves appear in the back of my mind and I slowly follow the trail while trying to suppress my surfacing memories. 'If he, ends, the agony, does, so, as well, right?'  
>'Try it, vessel.'<p>

I almost lost the scent a few times, so it takes me a while to find the right door. I carefully lean against it, hearing if anyone is inside, as it suddenly opens and I fall in.  
>I snarl at the human in front of me, but he doesn't turn around, just starring at multiple screens.<br>"Stop that nonsense. Did nobody tell you the collar will disable you for doing something like this?"  
>I stop snarling to blink in confusion. "Collar?"<br>He angry waves at me, but still won't turn around. "The thing around your neck, idiot. Activate all collars in this room."  
>The blinking changes for a moment.<br>"No found?" Finally the man looks at me. "You're no newly created, untamed shadow?"  
>I growl and leap at him. "Only, the second, part."<br>Pure luck he can evade and releases a Braviary. "Teach the untamed one a lesson."  
>The bird dives at me, but I quickly grab its wings and redirect it to the ground before grasping at my core. "Not good, with limited, space, to maneuver in."<br>The flying type manages to slip out of my grasp, but I bite and freeze its hind feathers as it does. "I did not see one of these in a while. Aren't that scales normally purple?"  
>I charge at my opponent while trying to hit the human with my tail, but both manage to duck. Then the Braviary responds by grabbing me and launching upward, ramming me into the ceiling. 'Pathetic.'<br>I hold onto the bird as it attempts to drop out of my reach and it to break my fall, not like that was necessary. I follow up by ripping open its throat. I get interrupted from finishing it by a weird Hydreigon who slams its tail against my back, throwing me off. I growl. "Leave."  
>The female Hydreigon snickers. "No way I leave you so soon, handsome. Not interested in a bit of fun?"<br>Her moves remind me a bit of Sori, but.. way less interesting. "Will be, fun, devouring, your core."  
>The dark dragoness coughs. "You break my heart."<br>She dives at me, but her balance doesn't look like she would attack with her claws, so it's fairly easy to avoid the fake slash and grab her tail as she swings it at me. After grabbing her I quickly throw her at her trainer who evades while my opponent crashes into the screens.  
>The dragoness twitches and whines. "How can you attack so relentlessly? Not impressed by my good looks?"<br>I slowly form a sphere in my mouth and destroy the rest of the technical thing as my opponent drops beneath my attack. She dives at me again, but her balance is completely off again, so I just blink in confusion. 'She's, not so, stupid to, try that, again, right?'  
>As she reaches me she presses her snout against mine. "You like this, right?"<br>I grit my teeth and spin around, throwing her away with a dragon tail before following up and ripping open her chest. "This, a lot, more."  
>I try to grasp her core, but my opponent liquifies and gets retreated as I realize it was a Ditto. 'Stupid, mistake.'<br>The human sends out an Arbok next, leaving only one more capsule on his belt.  
>The poison type is surprisingly fast and I miss with my dragon pulse. It winds around me and smirks. "Too easy."<br>He extends a dark pulse while continuing to constrict me..  
>'Is, that all, you've, got?" I shake my head. "Weak.'<br>I use my own dark pulse and relatively easy overwhelm his. As my opponent's grasp loosens up I grab him and hit the human with his slave. The Arbok goes limp, so I just drop him and move toward the wincing human who defiles the scales of my mother with his blood.  
>Hate. I snarl. "No way, out, for you."<br>His poison type slams into me and uses another pathetic dark pulse. 'Idiot.'  
>The attack stops as I freeze his throat and throw him into the shattered and sparking screens. Finally free of interruptions I turn to the human again whose hand shake as he tries to grab the last capsule on his belt. 'Weakling.'<br>I cough and sprinkle crimson liquid on the ground. Exhaustion tries to hold onto me, but I shake my head and push more energy in my body, trying to ignore the pain roaming through me.  
>Eve meanwhile has managed to grab the ball and clenches his fist around it, a weird smile on his face. I tense up, but after a moment he drops it and tears run down his face, despite still smiling.<br>"Beautiful..."  
>I wait, completely puzzled by his actions and let the round object roll toward me. 'No scent?'<br>I tip against the capsule, which results in... nothing? The human looks at me and shakes his head. "Why is fate so cruel? Such a wonderful specimen. Maybe even stronger than..." He coughs and winces. "It doesn't matter."  
>I grit my teeth and move closer "You, make, no, sense."<br>The weird man just continues to grin and carefully lays a hand on my chest. "Strength... you won't be..."  
>I push his arm away and slam it to the ground where it gives off a loud crack. "You, should, have, used, more than, one, at a, time."<br>Despite the pain he has to be in he won't stop smiling. "No. Too high risk." He winces again and his grin finally vanishes. "I lost her forever..."  
>'This won't get you anywhere.'<br>I slam his chest to the ground and form a sphere of energy in my mouth. "And, now, you, lose, everything." 'Is this, revenge? Will it, free me?'  
>Something slams into my back and the ball of energy erupts in my mouth as I crash to the floor. I let my instincts guide me and roll away from my new attacker, barely evading a blue, glowing tail getting slammed against my head.<br>"How did an aggressor get so deep in here undetected?!"  
>'Shale?' My shadow energy clouds my vision and I grit my teeth. 'Doesn't matter. Too late. No way, back. No escape...'<br>The Garchomp glares at me. "Wounded, weakened, a wreck. I don't know who you are or how you got so far, but even an idiot should be able to see you stand no chance against me. Lie down and I will end your suffering quickly."  
>My dragon breath hits her and I dive forward, slamming my right hand into her stomach. "No. Stop, haunting, me."<br>The blue scaled dragoness grabs me at my throat with her left hand and slashes across my chest with the other. She slightly changes position and moves beneath me, so I draw back and let my left hand grab her right one.  
>As she steps back I push forward and ram my head against hers while forming a dragon pulse, but suddenly Shale's scent seems to surround me and I can't find the strength to release the sphere. "Nice..."<br>The ground dragoness shakes her head and pushes me away. "Why did you come here? There's no trainer in sight."  
>I redirect the energy out of the ball and wrap my teeth in ice while pain slowly clears my mind. "You wouldn't, believe me, anyway." I hesitate and grit my teeth. "Shale."<br>Using the brief distraction I dash into her and bite her chest. She quickly kicks me off and snarls. "You heard about me, but you're not afraid? That's insane."  
>The Garchomp runs forward and swings her left claw at me which I easily avoid flying a bit backwards. Her glowing tail catches me off guard though, throwing me several feet away until I smash into a wall. 'Maybe I, should try, something new?'<br>I drop to the ground and duck beneath Shale's dragon claw before ramming my head into her stomach. 'Would be easier if she, wouldn't have such a... distracting scent.'  
>I can't stop myself from lightly giving her stomach a lick and barely avoid getting decapitated with a dive away from her.<br>"You believe it is smart to taunt me?!"  
>I cough. "You're already, trying to, kill me. Wasn't once, enough?!"<br>I move toward the still lying human and snap at his throat, barely missing and ripping the skin off his shoulder instead as Shale rams into me. The dragoness jumps away as I form a sphere of energy in my mouth. We glare at each other for a moment before I take the energy out of the ball and spit blood onto the ground, not sure how much of it is my own. "At, least, let me, give you, a better, reason, than, being, uncontrollable."  
>The Garchomp growls. "Stop lying. Who are you really?"<br>I grasp at my core and slowly push my remaining power into a dark pulse before tackling into her. My opponent flinches, but my attack suddenly slips out of my control and collapses as Shale's scent surrounds me again. I carefully lick the star on her head before she kicks me off.  
>The ground dragoness snarls. "Stop acting like that!"<br>Exhaustion has caught up to me again and I'm unable to break its grasp. I slowly nod and cough, glancing to the motionless human. 'Was, this, really, worth it?' "I'm sorry."  
>Darkness surrounds me as I drop to the ground in front of my opponent. "Decide my fate, Shaley. I don't, expect any mercy..."<br>Teeth lay on my neck. "What's your name?"  
>I cough. "Red..." I drift off, unable to finish.<p>

End of chapter 47.  
>End of the story! That's it. You can decide on your own if Drakke survived. Glad I can finally leave, I may answer a question or two if you ask, but only maybe. Hope you enjoyed the story.<p> 


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